The Shiyuan fanfic
by misakililin
Summary: Shiyuan,a modern day teenager whose total craze is rurouni kenshin,falls in love with a Rurouni kenshin wannabewhat really happens in all those conflicts?[chapter 12 up!] please r&r!
1. To stand up and defend

Chapter 1: To stand up and defend  
  
Misaki-chan's notes: Hi Reviewers! Please leave a review after you have read this chapter and tell me what you think! I have 6 other chapters already typed out but I'm not sure if I should post them on ff.net. What do you think? Do you like it? Please tell me! Thanks! *bows *  
  
Shiyuan sat staring at her fingernails as she cracked her head thinking of something.trying to recall something.The door opened with a crack as her mother stepped in.  
  
"Shiyuan.don't you have to meet your friend at HMV now? Come on, let's go!" Shiyuan screamed. A piercing scream that could have shattered a few dozen glass window panes. Thankfully there were not glass windows in Shiyuan's room.  
  
"I GOT IT!!! I GOT IT!!! I REMEMBERED IT!!! OMG!!! SHIYUAN NO BAKA!!!" Shiyuan shrieked happily!!!  
  
She turned towards her mum with a face full of glee and her eyes shimmering with pride. " I remembered that the kenshin anime's real name is Rurouni Kenshin, not pathetic Samurai X!!! Mummy, in fact, I used to think that it was ruSHINI kenshin in the past. What a baka I was!"  
  
Shiyuan's mother stood at the doorway, slightly shaking her head and smiling at the same time. It was a gift that her only child, Shiyuan was totally absorbed into Japanese anime, Japanese fashion and of course, Rurouni Kenshin the anime. She had dreams for her daughter to be an expertise in Japanese linguistics when she grew up. She knew Shiyuan had it in her to have an ambition concerning Japanese. Whatever it is.  
  
Shiyuan changed quickly into a baggy whitish hood-coated sweatshirt and blue-starry Bermudas as she grabbed her greenish bag and rushed downstairs and into the Daihatsu.  
  
While traveling to orchard, (note: Orchard road is the town area in Singapore. It is flooded with teenagers, adults, children and tourists as it's the busiest area in Singapore) Shiyuan fished out her Japanese learning book and learned some Japanese phrases. "Let's see.Do Itashimashite means welcome. Arigatou Gozaimasu means thank you. My jap name is Mie. It's pronounced as Me-eh."  
  
Soon she and her parents reached the busy streets of Orchard and Shiyuan happily bade her parents goodbye as she stepped onto roads of the traffic junction.  
  
She crossed the pedestrian crossing and entered The Heeren Shops.  
  
She met up with Misaki and Izumi who then proceeded to shop happily for the RK soundtracks. They climbed happily up the escalators and proceeded to the Japanese animation section. They scanned through the decks of different anime splattered out on the cd racks. However, the Rurouni kenshin OST could not be found. The trio walked up the shop assistant and assisted her help.  
  
Misaki scribbled the name of the Japanese anime on a blank piece of paper and the shop assistant took it in her hand. She typed into the computer search button and after a while, she took in a long deep breath and broke the devastating news to us," I'm sorry.but it is currently out of stock."  
  
Shiyuan stood there, mouth gaping open. This can't be happening. Oh, Kami. I've been waiting for this soundtrack for too long and now you tell me you don't have it? What absolute rubbish!!! I will not tolerate it!!! This HMV shop is useless.USELESS!!!! "May I ask then when will it be in stock" Misaki's clear voice rang through her ears. "Maybe never. Maybe in 10 years' time" The shop assistant replied crudely.  
  
Shiyuan's face turned from pale white to a face of pure rage. Her cheeks, which were of an original white, turned into pitches of seething red. Invisble steam seemed to be pouring out from her ears. Her eyes were widening. Her breathing pace increased rapidly. She was boiling MAD. Her heart pounded faster by the minute and anger pierced through every blood vessel of her blood system.  
  
How dare that stupid imbecile woman try to act so nonchalant about the RK OST stock! How dare she be so rude to say that the RK stock will NEVER be replenished! Grrr.  
  
Shiyuan shrieked another one of her infamous piercing hair-tearing screams.  
  
" How dare you say that the RK stock will never be replenished again! DON'T EVER INSULT RUROUNI KENSHIN! OH, AND, WHAT KIND OF LOUSY SERVICE IS THIS? I WAS EXPECTING MUCH BETTER PERFORMANCE! THIS MUSIC SHOP SUCKS!!!" She bellowed loudly, saliva spitting out of her mouth. Clearly, she had caused a din, for all the customers in the stall were staring at her with wide, incredulous eyes.  
  
Misaki and Izumi rushed frantically to her side, grabbing her arms. They were distraught. They did not expect such a big, surprising reaction from Shiyuan. Obviously, they had just witnessed another side of Shiyuan's character. Shiyuan was like a kitten, mostly sweet and nice and friendly, but turns aggressive when defending her loved ones, or rather, loved possessions.  
  
A guy who was about 170cm tall, dressed in an oversized grayish long- sleeved tee with white cropped pants strolled up towards Shiyuan and gave her a tight slap.  
  
A slap that sounded sharp and crisp in the curiously quiet atmosphere. S  
  
Shiyuan self-consciously lifted her left hand to feel the stinging pain as she stared directly into the stranger's eyes with passionate fury and -bewilderment-. 


	2. Getting to hate someone is easy

Chapter 2- Getting to hate someone is easy  
  
Misaki-chan's notes: please leave reviews!!! Thanks so much!!!!  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Shiyuan demanded to know, her voice not above a whisper. The scene was intense. Their eyes were locked in deep concentration. Suddenly, the guy broke eye contact and seemed rather startled. It was as if he had been knocked out of a daze.  
  
" Oro.oops.I mean.Oh shit..." He broke off, blushing a tint of red. If I'm not wrong.I think I just slapped her. Oh my goodness gracious.what have I just done? What came over me??? He faltered and took a step back. "I'm sorry. that wasn't intentional.I just.I .I." He continued, his voice suddenly trembling.  
  
" You WHAT?" Shiyuan took a step closer.  
  
" IT was just really rude of you to start blowing your top off at the shop assistant! Look, I'm also really pissed because there's insufficient rk OST stock since I'm a biggie rk fan too.but that's no reason to shout at the shop assistant for that! Blame Singapore's trade business company!"  
  
" You.you.you." Shiyuan was speechless. Misaki and Izumi kludged each other nervously. " That gives you no reason to slap me!!!" She barked fiercely at him.  
  
"I already said I was sorry.I truly am.I'm really sorry. Oh well.but you were at fault too, with your impoliteness!"  
  
" Whatever!"  
  
"Good day.I'm leaving this HMV store now.Ja Ne" He bowed a slight bow and strolled out of the store. Shiyuan seemed momentarily stuck to the ground of HMV.  
  
What the nerve that guy has! Argh..first he slaps me, then he scolds me, then he walks away as if nothing happens! Should I see him again, I shall whack him to a pulp!  
  
The people who were staring at the much-publicized scene walked away and returned to their browsing of music stuff. Misaki and Izumi apologized meekly to the shop assistant before dragging Shiyuan by her arms out of the gigantic music store.  
  
It was a bad trip. It was one bad day for Shiyuan. Being the good loyal friends that Misaki and Izumi were, they decided not to rub salt into the wound and comforted Shiyuan instead of reprimanding her for being so rude.  
  
Izumi tried to cheer Shiyuan up by telling her all the Rurouni Kenshin jokes that she knew. She had a knack for imitating humourous poses of Japanese anime characters. She struck up a Soujirou pose with one finger in the air and exclaimed, " Sore Wa Hitmitsu Desu!" That got Shiyuan smiling and giggling.  
  
Misaki pulled Shiyuan and Izumi along for some Japanese clothes shopping. After browsing through various Japanese clothing shops, the three girls emerged out of the shopping malls with holes in their pockets. Well, not literally. Shiyuan bought pinkish hooded cap three-quarter-length pants while Izumi bought a blackish pair of high-knee boots and Misaki bought a sweet purple skirt.  
  
That cheered Shiyuan up alright, but it did not take away the nagging feeling at the back of her mind.  
  
That guy is really strange. He claims he is a biggie fan too, and he probably slapped me unintentionally since he seemed so guilty about it afterwards. But then again, what right does he have to slap me? It's way too absurd.Besides, this is Singapore.slapping a stranger is really uncommon.why did things turn out like that? Whatever it is, I hope I shall never ever have to see him again. I do not like to hate people- he is an exception though. Please let him vanish from my sight.  
  
Since the next day was a Monday, the girls had to go to school. They attended a school called Jefirerose High School. It was a mixed school for secondary school students. Actually, it was more of a Japanese-culture influenced environment study area. The female students wore skirts and blouses to school while the male students wore blazers and pants to school. The principal, Mr Chen Xiao Dong is a Japanese expert who studied Japanese and English as he grew up, thus he was inspired to open a Japanese culture- like school, just for Singaporeans to get a taste of Japanese life.  
  
Shiyuan, Izumi and Misaki pulled up to the gates of Jefirerose High school and continued chatting about Rurouni Kenshin. Mr Chen Xiao Dong strongly advised his school's pupils to get interested and involved in Japanese anime as a learning path and so as to get into the Japanese spirit of things. " Yeah.yeah!!! Gentatsu's SO hot!" "Totally! But my Soujirou looks hotter!" " NO! Battousai is the best-looking bishounen in the whole of Japanese anime!!!" The school-bell rang, and the trio rushed into their classroom, 2-Courage.  
  
" Ohayo class!!!" A loud deep voice boomed across the air molecue particles in the classroom. There was no response from the students. Heaving slightly, the teacher repeated in a dull voice," Good morning class!"  
  
" Good morning Mr Cham Kam Poo!" The sea of students chorused back. They took their seats. Everyday the teacher would try to pull an attempt to greet the students in Japanese, only to receive an unenthusiastic response from them.  
  
" Class." He cleared his voice. " Let me announce a very, very, very serious and important matter. SHHH! You there, Izumiah, stop talking with Misaka and Shiyuanai-chan!  
  
Pay attention! SHHH! He put his fingers to his lips, striking his infamous pose.  
  
" We.have a new student in Jefirerose High! What's more, we have the utmost privilege to have him in our class1 You're right! He's a bishounen, he's a Singaporean but he was born in Japan. He migrated back to Singapore a few weeks ago and he'll be our student from now on! May I welcome Shinsani Himme please!"  
  
There was tumultuous applause as the classroom door opened to reveal - Shinsani Himme- Time traveled faster than a millisecond and before Shiyuan could lay her eyes to gaze a fully at the newly-introduced student, her eyes widened with shock and disbelief. She had turned her head and glanced at the new pupil, only to realize, -gulp-, that he was the same guy who slapped her in HMV!  
  
What the hell is happening.NONONONONONONONOONONONONON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING. THIS WON'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!!!!! WHY ME ME ME ME OF ALL PEOPLE???????? I MUST BE THE UNLUCKIEST GIRL WITH THE LEAST LUCK IN THIS WHOLE WORLD. LIFE WILL BE A HORROR WITH HIM AROUND!!!!  
  
Misaki and Izumi's eyes converted from friendly gazes to narrow horrified stares. " Izumi-shishou.do you see what I see?" " Duh, I see what you see, baka deshi" Both of looked at each other and looked at Shiyuan. Shiyuan seemed.well, physically normal, just shocked, that's all.  
  
Shisani spotted Shiyuan too the moment he stepped into the classroom and he too, was momentarily shocked. Shocked that Shiyuan-chan was in the same classroom as him and his classmate. He swallowed his saliva nervously.  
  
"Now now.let's get back to order" Mr Cham waved his hand in the air and ushered Shinsani to one of the front-row seats. " Let' settle down. I hope you all will get along smashingly with him! Alright, it's back to history chapter 134 please! Please take out your textbook and copy down some notes while I narrate, class" There was a soft murmur of groans while the class obliged.  
  
Recess came later than never. Shiyuan, who had been unusually quiet all this while, marched up to Shinsani's desk and planted her palm on his desk. He looked up at her, curiosity filling his eyes. "yes" He pondered aloud?  
  
" I don't know why you're here, you know. It must be too much of a coincidence. I just wanted to inform you that I detest the sight of you and for something you've done to me. I will so NOT get along smashingly with you. Not that I will intentionally create trouble for you, of course," She said with a wave of her finger." She started to stroll away when Shinsani stood up and said," WAIT"  
  
Shiyuan turned back with a look of irritation on her face. "Yes?"  
  
" I'm really sorry about the incident at HMV.I just didn't know what got over me.please forgive me? I guess I was in the wrong." He muttered audibly  
  
Shiyuan smirked and said," So you learnt your mistake eh?"  
  
" LOOK! You were in the wrong too, shouting at the poor lady like that! What poor manners you have! You look elegant but you're indeed not an elegant young woman!" He rebuked at her, irritation flooding over him.  
  
Shiyuan gaped her mouth wide open and hollered at him in indignation," I thought you were going to apologise decently to me! What's this about you scolding me now?"  
  
" Pesky little girl" He muttered under his breath.  
  
" Cruel Violent stupid self-egoistic pig!" She shouted back.  
  
He glared dagger eyes at her. She glared back, not blanching at the sight of his furious face. In the silent moment of the scene, Shiyuan was able to take a good look at Shinsani's sight. He was golden sunkissed and with a freak stroke of luck, had natural brown hair that shone red under sunlight. Sunlight was basking in through the classroom's crystal-clear class window panes and Shiyuan saw his hair colour. Her eyes widened. " You dyed your hair???"  
  
" No?" He sounded somewhat perturbed. First this girl was confronting him, and now she asked him a normal question, as if she was talking normally to a normal friend.  
  
" Don't lie piggie! It's red! Like Kenshin's hair!" She exclaimed somewhat excitedly.  
  
" I'm NOT." He replied indignantly.  
  
" Stop imitating him all right! Himura Kenshin is the only special figure in the whole of this universe! Stop thinking that you can dress like him and act like him and LOOK like him, because you can't, got it?" She shouted at him.  
  
" You're unbelievable! Look.I'm not lying alright? My hair is naturally like that and I did not on, whatsoever terms, dye it!" He shouted back at her, exasperation clouding him.  
  
" Oh.right.first you slap me, then you refuse to apologise and now you're lying about your hair colour? NOBODY has red hair naturally.they dye it!!! YOU BAKA! Don't insult Himura Kenshin by dying your hair the same colour as his! You don't look like him! Looking like him will be a personal and sensational insult to Himura Kenshin!": She screeched at him, rage getting the better of her.  
  
" You're unbelievable!" He said, shaking his head noticeably.  
  
" Well.you know what? Getting to hate you is really easy." She rebuked angrily  
  
" Right...I SO agree with you. Getting to hate you is really easy!" He snarled back at her.  
  
Shiyuan gasped and she stomped out of the classroom and walked to Izumi and Misaki who were standing at the doorside. Freak.  
  
Shinsani waited till she had stalked off before he stalked off too in a huff, muttering freak under his breath.  
  
Oh no.this isn't going to be pretty.  
  
Misaki-chan's notes: credit to shishou for giving me the idea of kenshin's hair being naturally brown that shines red under sunlight=) and to celesta, for helping me think of the school name Jufirerose High=) 


	3. My diary entry

Chapter 3: My diary entry  
  
Misaki's notes: Please review and enjoy! Arigatou!!!  
  
Shiyuan-chan's diary entry # 102  
  
Ohayo Diary,  
  
Today is Boxing Day and I'm writing here at 10.33am. The weather is hot, as usual, and I'm going out in a short while with my other classmate, Laurie- chan. It's been a week since school has started once again and I feel so dreadful. Why do I feel that way? Oh right. I'm feeling blue because there are many dreadful things going on in JufireRose high. Let me introduce some of my classmates' names to you and some school happenings. I have a gut feeling that I will be writing more and more of these kind of entries in my diary. BOO.  
  
Firstly, there's Misaki Massaki and Yuichi Izumi, who are my best pals! They are Japanese crazy!!! Heehee.  
  
Misaki-chan is my baka deshi, and Izumi and I are her shishou and sensei respectively. In short, she's our Japanese student and we call each other formally.  
  
Sometimes Misaki-chan can be a little air-headed and call me atrocious names like Shiyuan-sensei and Mie-san. * shudders like mad *  
  
Izumi-chan loves Soujirou from RK (although I can't see why. Kenshin's sooooooooooooooo much better!) while Misaki-chan prefers real-life bishounens to anime bishounens. She has ,without a doubt, horrible taste in guys. (well, in my personal opinion. Her past crushes include Sylvester- chan, who is like, ugh, so ugly???!!!)  
  
Next up, there's the twin duo, Judy and Mary Slang. They are practically famous stars! They sang Sokabasu for the Rurouni Kenshin soundtrack!!! OMG!!! They're SO fortunate!!!! *faints blissfully * They transferred here last year and this year, they're in sec 2-Courage too! YATTA! I shall have to ask them more about RK stuff and how it feels being so fortunate to SING on the OST.  
  
There's also Laura-chan, who has been one of my closest friends since last year. She's not interested in Japanese anime though.  
  
There's a stupid baka Shinsani Himme, who just transferred here a few days ago. Unfortunately, he HAD to be in my class. He's the atrocious bloody pighead who had to SLAP me at HMV when I was out with Misaki and Izumi. GRRRRR.  
  
He didn't even apologise decently to me and he turned to scold me instead. Scold.as in. scold me for my impoliteness and ungraceful manners. What the heck! Thick-headed simpleton.these days.the girls in 2-Courage have been swooning and gushing about him and it makes me PUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRR.  
  
Misaki said, " He's such a hunk! Look at his facial features! Look at that hair! Look at his tanned body! LOOK AT HIM!!! Omg.isn't he so perfect?" yeah. He's so NOT perfect. He's 100% imperfect. He dyed his hair so that he could imitate Kenshin's hair. What a man. ARGH. I hate him to bits and pieces and I shall shred him apart! We have been ignoring each other, ever since the encounter during recess.  
  
For the academic subjects.I have been coping well, except for my maths and science. I personally feel that I'm flunking these two subjects. They are SO boring, so stupid, so useless, so crappy, I might as well not learn it and do something more productive, dun cha think?  
  
There's a cca called fencing. It's the closest cca I can get to swords fighting! I've signed up for it and my first lesson begins on Monday! YATTA! I can't wait!!!!!!!! WATASHI WA URESHII DESU NE!!!!!!!!! ^_____^ (translation: I'm too happy for words!) Chiki says that the LAST SAMURAI movie is a MUST-watch for all RK fans1 Alrighty, I shall try to catch it, okay? 


	4. Fencing changes people

Chapter 4: fencing changes people  
  
Misaki-chan's notes: I took about one hour writing the whole chapter out in my greenish notebook. Hehehe. Anyway I was planning about 4 ideas for what will happen in chapter and I finally decided on the 4th idea. Read to find out! Lol. Credit to Bairong for giving me an introduction on fencing! I do not learn fencing in real life but I'm intending to take up fencing lessons for it as my "reward" if I do well for my mid-year exams=) please enjoy and please leave a review! * there is lost response* arigatou!!!  
  
Shiyuan squeaked excitedly as she put on her white fencing suit. She slid her arms into the long sleeves of the top fencing suit and she wore another matching pair of white pants. Holding the headmask in one hand, she proceeded to sit cross-legged on the floor, with the other members.  
  
" SUGOI!!!" [sugoi means cool] Izumi exclaimed as she let her eyes gaze around the surroundings. Shiyuan and Misaki nodded in agreement. The shifu entered the indoor fencing hall and the students stood up to greet him. " Good afternoon people! Call me...Ruma-sensei!" " Good afternoon Ruma- sensei!" The class chorused.  
  
" Now please sit." He continued speaking. "Fencing is a modern way of training with swords. In Japan's history, kendo fighting was an art which was practiced by samurai fighters. Unfortunately, we do not have kendo fighting as a cca, however, we have FENCING!" Ruma-sensei was a tall build of six feet and he was clad in a fencing suit. " Not that fencing is related to Japanese history anyway," he said as an afterthought.  
  
" There are different types of swords used in fighting. Today, we shall focus on the sabre sword." Ruma-sensei held out a sword that had a thin blade.  
  
" This is a sabre sword." He said as he glanced at the awe plastered on his students' faces.  
  
"Who here has learned fencing before?" Ruma-sensei asked crisply.  
  
" Me,sir" Shinsani stood up and bowed courteously towards the sensei. Shiyuan could not resist the urge to roll her eyes. Great. I didn't notice him here. Perhaps that was because I was too excited in putting on my fencing suit. It's always him everywhere.  
  
" Alright. You shall spar with me then!" Ruma-sensei grinned as he thrust another sabre sword to Shinsani.  
  
They did the fencing ritual which consisted of placing their fencing swords on the ground and lifting it up from the ground. " Ready,set" They said and the sparring began.  
  
The smashing of swords caused a startling sound of "clinging" and "clanging". Ruma-sensei drove towards Shinsani, and did a reposite him. Shinsani fell backwards at the sudden attack, but he quickly braced himself and was back on his feet. There were sounds of "ooh" and "ahh" erupting from the female fencing population. " Please let Shinsani win!!!" One girl begged. " HANYAAN!!!" Another group of girls shrieked. Shiyuan had to bite her tongue from preventing herself to puke in the fencing hall. Hanyaan? My foot. Stupid air-headed girls. Now just let me concentrate on observing the intense sparring and the way they move in peace.  
  
The intense sparring continued for a few more minutes. Shinsani counter- parry attacked Ruma-sensei as he tried to lunge another reposite on him. Taking the opportunity to do an underbody sword technique, he moved swiftly to the lunge the attack. Ruma-sensei dodge skillfully and counter-parry attacked him. Ruma-sensei found himself in the winning position as his sword blade touched Shinsani.  
  
Shinsani and Ruma-sensei bowed to each other as a roar of tumultuous applause erupted from the whole fencing team.  
  
" Who would like to have a go with Shinsani?" Ruma-sensei asked. " Sparring with him would be a good experience, as Shinsani has proven himself to be a skilful fighter."  
  
" I would like to have a go" Shiyuan stood up abruptly. Her eyes were sparkling. She turned her directly to look directly at Ruma-sensei in the eyes. " May I?" She asked.  
  
Ruma-sensei chuckled and said," Yes yes, courageous one, you may!"  
  
Shiyuan clutched the fencing sabre sword eagerly as she walked nearer towards Shinsani. She fastened her headmask and held her sword in position. Okay.what do I think I'm doing??? I have not fenced before.I don't even have the basic knowledge of fencing.but just seeing the spectacular sparring between Shinsani and Ruma-sensei gives me inspiration.  
  
Shinsani was looking at her doubtfully, as if suspecting if she even KNEW how to hold a sabre. Shiyuan glared at him.  
  
"Start!" Ruma-sensei commanded.  
  
Shinsani lunged a reposite attack on her but she dodge. Grinning victoriously, she lunged a reposite on him. Shinsani dodged and he counter- parry attacked her, making her lose her footing and she fell to the hard solid floor. Shinsani smiled as he thrust his sword on her fencing suit. He had already won so easily. Obviously she doesn't know how to fence.but I like her guts for daring to try sparring.  
  
Even though Shiyuan disgraced herself in public, she still showed good sportsmanship. Shinsani held out a hand and Shiyuan took it. Lifting herself up from the ground, she bowed courteously to Shinsani.  
  
"Ruma-sensei" Shinsani asked. " May I be Shiyuan's fencing partner? Ruma- sensei smiled at him and nodded his head as a sign of approval. "Now all of you people sitting down there, go grab a fencing partner and practice the moves that you have just seen." The girls who had been cheering Shinsani on earlier while he was sparring with Ruma-sensei spilt up grumbling and frowning at Shyiuan. Clearly they were jealous. But it could not be helped.  
  
Shiyuan grabbed Shinsani's arms and looked up at him incredulously. "You..m- mean.You want to be my fencing partner? You are willing to teach me how to fence?" Shinsani smiled and nodded. "Duh.What are we waiting for?"  
  
That fencing lesson was probably one of Shiyuan's best experiences in life. Shinsani taught her how to reposite and counter-attack properly, just like how a mother bird teaches it baby how to fly. Both of them forgot the hatred and awkardness between them and they concentrated on fencing.  
  
Perhaps there was hope.to become friends.and to forgive and forget.  
  
The fencing lesson ended, much to everybody's disappointment. "Now, now. Don't despair. I'm satisfied that all of you enjoyed the fencing lesson. Till next week shall we meet then!" Ruma-sensei announced.  
  
"Er.so I shall see you on Monday, then, Shiyuan? " Shinsani smiled.  
  
" Er.yup. Ja Ne Shinsani!"  
  
She took off her fencing suit and went to change in the toilet into a fresh pair of uniform. Letting her hair fall back freely, she gathered and walked towards Misaki and Izumi who were already waiting for her at the school gate. They chatted happily and freely as if the world was never going to end. The day looked bright and happy for them. 


	5. Laura's debut

Chapter 5: Laura's debut  
  
Misaki-chan's notes: Yay I'm so happy! I have 7 reviews for my shiyuan fanfic! Thanks for your reviews! I love them and I'm so happy I'm twirling! So please review more( thanks!!!  
  
" So what are the most advanced styles of fencing? Please tell me please please please!!!" Shiyuan begged Shinsani as they walked on the school corridor. She clutched onto Shinsani's sleeve and did a rurouni kenshin cross-eyed smiley. (think: xD) Shinsani was startled by Shiyuan's touch and he raised his eyebrows at her. " Have you heard of the Parent Trap movie? Go rent that and observe the 5 minute fencing before running to me and asking me questions you should already know." He replied, smirking.  
  
Shiyuan pouted and agreed reluctantly. It would have been so easy to just get the answer out from Shinsani but Shinsani wanted her to learn things the hard way. Just like the time Shiyuan forced her baka deshi, Misaki-chan to surf the Internet for 5 hours to download the rurouni kenshin soundtracks even though she could just so conveniently give Misaki the soundtracks downloads herself. So now I know how my poor baka deshi felt. Muhahahahaha. Never mind, I shall go on torturing her. This way, she would have a greater impact and more enthusiasm for Rurouni Kenshin products. Whee! Shiyuan snapped out of her thoughts as she was interrupted by a loud commotion in the courtyard.  
  
" Let's go check it out!" Shinsani suggested as he brisk-walked to the courtyard, leaving Shiyuan standing rooted to the spot at the vending machine. "Hey! Wait for me!" She yelled as she took after him.  
  
" Miss Khoo, I do not think that you have any right to reprimand me at all. WHAT AUDACITY! WHY YOU LITTLE-" Mr Chen Xiao Dong was cut off in the middle of his scolding.  
  
" Well.pardon me sir. I do not think that you should speak in the first place. Firstly, the way I dress does not affect the lessons that I shall have here in this school. Secondly, whoever designed the school uniform is totally old-fashioned, well, no offense anyway. I do not mean to be critically mean. Where was I? Right. I'm just adding a little colour to my uniform to make it more interesting and that isn't a crime, is it? You should back off and if you need any future fashion advice, feel free to visit me. I'll gladly give you some." The girl added in a tone of sarcasm and mocking confidence.  
  
Mr Chen, who was practically fuming, was filled with seething anger. "You..you!!!" He stammered and he wavered. Then he stomped his feet in resignation and headed back to his office. Everybody who was in the courtyard burst out clapping and laughing and cheering the girl on. The nerve of the girl! This was the first time Mr Chen was outspoken by a student. Shiyuan, who had witnessed the whole scene, walked up to the girl and held out her hand.  
  
" Ohayo! My name's Shiyuan. You rock dudette! Nobody has ever outspoken the principal in that manner before!" Shiyuan said in a friendly tone, as the girl reached across to shake her hand.  
  
" Perhaps this should be recorded in the Guinness World Book of records!" Shinsani said, as he walked up to both of the girls. Shiyuan rolled her eyes in a good natured way and replied," Don't be lame. Students outspeak their teachers and principals in America. It's almost as if it was a daily routine."  
  
The girl was about 5 feet tall and she looked like an American-Chinese. With black hair which looked as if they were dyed brown was sifting down her shoulders and her small eyes were gleaming with a twinkle, she had rosy cheeks that never seemed to lose their pink colour. Her school skirt was altered a short length at around the mid- thighs, her blouse were rolled up. The left side of her hair was highlighted in light purple and she wore shocking pink nail polish. " My name's Laura. Laura khoo. Nice to meet both of you!" She grinned.  
  
" Are you of mixed blood?" Shiyuan asked curiously.  
  
" Nope."  
  
" Well you look like one"  
  
" Haha thanks, that's what most people tell me. But both my parents are pure Chinese."  
  
" So are you new here?" Shinsani asked curiously.  
  
" Well, not exactly. I had been in this school when I was seven to nine years old, then I changed school because my parents had to work overseas in Japan. So here I am in Singapore again, so since my parents are permanently working in Singapore, that means I shall be studying here permanently too. Is Singapore that strict?"  
  
Shiyuan was jumping up and down and screaming nonsensical words that nobody could interpret. " YOU LIVED IN JAPAN FOR A WHILE? OMG THAT IS SO COOL!!! I'M A JAPANESE ANIME FREAK AND I TOTALLY LOVE J-POP AND JAPANESE STUFF! WHAT'S JAPAN LIKE?"  
  
Laura burst out laughing at Shiyuan's naive and enthusiastic response and she replied," It rocks. Why not I tell you about it over lunch? I'm in eighth grade this year. My class is 2Courage. Could you lead me to that class? " Shiyuan began screaming even harder and she replied," that's my class too! I have two other best friends in it. WE will get along smashingly, don't worry!" The two girls smiled. They began walking together and chatted away and introduced themselves after assembly, leaving poor Shinsani alone. Shrugging his shoulders, he went off to look for his male buddies to chat away. He just could not stand the gushing between girls.  
  
In class.  
  
It was general science period and the teacher Mr Cham was yakking away non- stop, and of course, wearing that perpetual smile on her face that never seemed to be erased from her face. Laura was rather amused, and she imitated the way Mr Cham smiled while she taught the class about molecules and atoms. Her mouth hung open as she witnessed the public scene of Mr Cham pausing for a while and taking a chance to scratch his butt.  
  
Shiyuan giggled inwardly and said," Don't be too shocked. His daily routines are quite revolting, if you know what I mean. But yeah, he's a good teacher."  
  
" And so, did you know I was a boy scout during my schooldays? Thus boys scouts are clever and they learn science and maths, thus I'm teaching your class maths and science, so sit up and pay attention!" His voice boomed loudly across the whole classroom, awakening those who had fallen asleep and was slouching on their chairs and desks. Laura and Shiyuan caught each other in the eye and burst out laughing hard, causing mr Cham to raise his eyebrows and look at them sternly.  
  
Maths lesson passed by in a flash as both girls were giggling over every small thing that Mr Cham did and said, thus they earned an after-school detention from him. Over recess, Shiyuan introduced and took Laura around the school, letting her recapture her memories of being a child in the same building.  
  
" Everything seems so different compared to when I was studying here when I was eight," She added thoughtfully. " Well they did some major upgrading because the seniors complained everything was too kiddy and they wanted something more cool and sophisticated," Shiyuan said helpfully.  
  
The two girls rushed back to class 2C and waited fervently (yeah, right) for their detention. Their detention was mainly to use the period of 50 minutes to complete and write out notes for the whole science chapter of Atoms and Molecules and Ions and the definitions of them. This detention was not too bad, unlike the detention in Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix where Harry potter used his blood to write out lines in detention. Luckily Mr Cham was not as cruel as Professor Umbridge.  
  
The two girls were soon finishing their detention in half an hour's time and when they looked up, Mr Cham was nowhere to be seen. " That's weird," Shiyuan mused.  
  
" I'm so sorry you had to be punished and stay back for detention on your first day of school Laura!" Shiyuan apologized calmly.  
  
Laura laughed it off and said," Haha that's okay! This day is one of the most interesting days of my life desu ne!"  
  
Shinsani was looking for Shiyuan, as he needed to notify her of the change of dates for the next fencing training. Where could she be? He scratched his head. A thought dawned on him and he realized that Shiyuan was still probably at detention after laughing over Mr Cham like a mad clown during maths period. He ran past 2C and ran backwards again. He popped his head into the classroom and yelled," Yo you two! Why is your detention so long?"  
  
Shiyuan was getting irritated with Shinsani.  
  
" What do you mean by why our detention is so long?" She retorted.  
  
Shinsani snorted and smirked good-naturedly. But Shiyuan took it the wrong way and she was getting a little annoyed. " Don't give me that prissy attitude Shinsani sonny!" Shinsani put his hand dramatically over his chest and said," Sure Shiyuan mommy. Since when was I called Shinsani sonny, eh?"  
  
Shiyuan frowned and she stood up. " Don't take this too far ok, Shinsani Homai!"  
  
"Eh?" Was Shinsani's confused reply.  
  
" Did you come here to mock me? There's no need to, you know." Shiyuan retorted.  
  
" Look I wasn't mock-"  
  
" Oh really? Then what's with the dramatic sarcasm?"  
  
"I just came to inform you that-"  
  
" HEY YOU!" Mr Cham bellowed as he made his grand entrance into the classroom. He pointed at Laura and Shiyuan, and said," Have you two done your homework?" He then proceeded to point at Shinsani and said, " you are not supposed to interrupt my students in the middle of the their detention, Mr Shinsani Homai, got it?"  
  
Shiyuan rolled her eyes and pouted angrily.  
  
Shinsani decided to explain things before they got worse and he got cut off by Shiyuan again and soon they were struggled in a battle against arguing in front of the teacher and Laura.  
  
" THAT'S IT!!! SHIYUAN AND SHINSANI, STAY BACK FOR A DOUBLE DETENTION TOMORROW! OH MY POOR EARS.I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE" Mr Cham commanded, before he walked out of the classroom, breaking the quarrel between the two of them.  
  
Shiyuan's mouth twisted into a snarl and she spluttered angrily," I don't believe this! It's all YOUR fault!"  
  
It was Shinsani's turn to twist his mouth into a snarl and he retorted, " No way!"  
  
" Fine then! Meet you in 2C tomorrow! It's all your fault, mind you!" Shiyuan spluttered angrily.  
  
Shinsani stomped his feet angrily and walked out of the classroom, leaving Shiyuan to fume. How can she be so full of admiration for me when I'm in fencing and today she was just clinging on to me begging me for fencing tips, and now she's reverting back to her old self, picking on me and arguing with me? I didn't even get to pass her the change of dates for the fencing lesson. OH MAN.  
  
" Ano.are you two.are you two?" Laura pondered. " Well.never mind."  
  
Laura was a distraction to Shiyuan's anger and Shiyuan angry mood was immediately replaced with a sense of curiosity. " What???" She asked eagerly, her anger evaporating instantly.  
  
" Are you two a couple? You two quarrel exactly like a couple and you two look so well-matched!!!" Laura squeaked excitedly.  
  
Shiyuan was stunned. Yeah. Stunned. She stood rooted to the spot before regaining conscious and she whacked her forehead and said," Never ever, would I fall for a baka pighead like that Shinsani. Yeah. Never. "  
  
" But I do think that you went a bit too far by shouting away at Shinsani just because he teased you. He must have a purpose if he wanted to find you in class 2C,right?" Laura said thoughtfully.  
  
Shiyuan looked up at Laura with incredulous big eyes and said, " I think you're right. Uh-oh. My spunky mad mood gets the better of me sometimes." Laura nodded in understanding.  
  
Misaki-chan's end notes: I changed shinsani's surname to homai^^ I want to add more waff in the upcoming chapters! Yay this chapter is FINALLY completed!!!=) 


	6. Detention rocks?

Chapter 6: Detention rocks? Misaki-chan's notes: Thanks to everybody who has reviewed! Yes, Rurouni Kenshin is indeed a famous anime character. Have you heard the anime Rurouni Kenshin/ samurai X? Yes, that's the guy with the crossed-scar=) A baka deshi is a stupid student=) Yes, yes, I'm the deshi of two of my friends, who are my japanese teachers. I just watched THE LAST SAMURAI yesterday! It totally rocks! Chiki said that all rk fans must watch that- and I agree. It rocks!!! ^___^ Please review! Thanks!  
  
Time seems to fly, especially when you are in secondary school. Secondary school life flies by, just like how fast secondary one flew past us like how time ticks away on the clock. Shiyuan was dreading the next day, which she would be forced to have school detention with Shinsani. 24 Hours flew past. Laura had expressed to her sympathy wishes, which was of no comfort. " Remember to have a good time in detention, alright? Treasure the detention and always be positive about things!" Laura said and she went away bouncing on her heels lightly, leaving Shiyuan to stare after her with big innocent blinking eyes.  
  
Misaki and Izumi had disappeared recently, apparently they were not taking the same subjects as Shiyuan since there was a new module system in JuFirRose High, therefore, they had not seen each other recently. I'm missing my friends already.I certainly miss my baka deshi and of course, Izumi.  
  
Dragging her feet sluggishly to the classroom where she was supposed to report for detention, Shiyuan entered the classroom and threw her sling schoolbag on the front desk. After two minutes passed, Shinsani entered the classroom and his eyes met Shiyuan's eyes for a moment before he broke eye contact and pouted. He placed his bag beside the desk that Shiyuan's bag was placed on.  
  
" Er." Shiyuan started lamely.  
  
" Yeah." Shinsani replied back lamely.  
  
" Okay.so.perhaps I was wrong." Shiyuan began. " To have screamed at you before you had a chance to explain."  
  
Shinsani felt a smile forming on his lips but he resisted and urged her to continue speaking.  
  
" So anyway.what was it that you wanted to tell me about?" Shiyuan finished her inner thought.  
  
Shinsani was smiling and he was about to answer her question when Mr Cham Kam Poo entered the classroom, with a suspicious glint plastered on his face. " Don't go all intimate okay! You two steads having a private conversation before detention, eh? Don't deny! Haha!" He chuckled merrily to himself, causing Shiyuan and Shinsani to look at each other before turning to look at him with their eyebrows raised.  
  
" Don't pretend! Alright, get down to serious business, you two!"  
  
The two sat next to each other, attracting Mr Cham's attention. " See? You steads are also sitting beside each other. It's so obvious!" Mr Cham Kam Poo pointed out childishly.  
  
Shiyuan glared at Shinsani and Shinsani shrugged. The rest of the three hours was spent on revising all different kinds of subjects. Yes, they were allowed to talk during detention and they were debating away on the topic of George Bush when Mr Cham interrupted them again with an irritatingly mocking tone," Whoah you two get on really well!" Shiyuan widened her eyes and was ready to strangle Mr Cham but she fought the urge to do so.  
  
" Mr Cham can you please just stop commenting? We are trying to study here!" Shiyuan exclaimed through gritted teeth. Shinsani was grinning, or rather, smirking as he continued writing on his piece of foolscap paper the pros of the debating topic. Shiyuan frowned at his unconcerned reaction.  
  
After detention, Shiyuan walked off briskly without waiting for Shinsani's answer to her question. She was thinking, " Now even a teacher thinks we are steads, I don't wish for anymore complication. It sucks getting paired up with someone so ill mannered so as to slap me" Shinsani decided not to run after her. He knew that she would blindly go for fencing training on Saturday, so he decided to go to school to train with her alone, and then attend the actual training with her on Sunday.  
  
On Saturday.  
  
" What are you doing here??!! Where are the rest??" Shiyuan exclaimed. Horrors of the horrors. The fencing hall was empty with no one and Shiyuan was left feeling anxious and scared. I mean, how would you feel if you went for training and you turned up only to discover that no other people turned up for training and you're the only one? So Shiyuan was somewhat relieved when she spotted Shinsani coming into the fencing hall with his fencing gear.  
  
" There is no training today." He said matter-of-factly.  
  
It took quite a while for the news to sink in for Shiyuan. " Why wasn't I informed?" Her voice sounded oddly high-pitched, higher than usual.  
  
" I tried countless times to tell you but there had to be something to spoil it. So I figured that we could self-train by ourselves since we are already here today and we can go for official training tomorrow on Sunday." Shinsani replied, putting on his fencing gear. Shiyuan pondered for a while and to Shinsani's relief, she did a cross-eyed rurouni kenshin smile instead of flaring up. Shinsani chuckled inwardly as to how Shiyuan could have so many different sides of temperament.  
  
" Let's start sparring then!" Shiyuan said and after they did a fencing ritual, they were off into serious fencing. Shinsani gave Shiyuan fencing tips and guided her along. Strange as it was, but, Shiyuan was beginning to feel apologetic towards Shinsani for flaring up so many times at him and letting him tolerate her childish obstinate behaviour.  
  
After they had finished fencing, both of them removed their fencing suits and they sat down, sprawled on the floor, exhausted. " Thanks Shinsani! " Shiyuan thanked Shinsani graciously. " ORO?!" Was his reply and the next thing he knew, Shiyuan had hit his head in a flash. " DON'T USE KENSHIN'S TRADEMARK PHRASE!!! YOU'RE NOT HIM!!! YOU ARE A LOUSY IMPERSONATION OF HIM!!!"  
  
"ITAI!" Shinsani complained, rubbing his head against the spot where Shiyuan had grudgingly hit him. " Sorry then. But I was just shocked that you actually knew basic courtesy. Well, what are you thanking me for?"  
  
Shiyuan was -can you believe it- blushing for the first time=| She shifted her gaze onto the floor, inspecting for ants as she tried to phrase her sentence properly. " Urm.Er. you see.I threw my temper at you but you were so sweet to come along and self-train with me. You could have left me here waiting all by myself clueless about the change of date.but you didn't.and you came to self-train with me too. That's what a great partner should be, don't you think? "  
  
It was Shinsani's turn to go red and his blush contrasted nicely with his brownish-red hair. He ruffled his hair and said, " Do itashimashite? You know what? It's time to pack up.come on.I'll walk you home."  
  
Shiyuan grinned. Soon they were on their way walking home when they had their first normal chat without any arguments.  
  
" Can I ask you something?" Shiyuan inquired.  
  
" Shoot."  
  
" Is your hair of natural colour? Why does it look red under direct sunlight?" Her curiosity was getting the better of her.  
  
" My hair is naturally brown. I didn't dye it whatsoever and when you ask me why it looks red under direct sunlight, you might as well ask yourself why your hair looks brown under direct sunlight." Shinsani replied logically.  
  
" Sou Desu Ne," Shiyuan pronounced in her unconvincing Japanese accent. [think: lilin's Japanese accent] Don't worry, she is currently working hard to improve her Japanese accent.  
  
" Are you interested in Rurouni Kenshin too?" Shiyuan asked eagerly, her bright big brown hazel eyes were shining with a twinkle as she twisted her mouth into a big smile and two dimples appeared at the sides of her cheeks.  
  
" DUH!!!" It was Shinsani's turn to get all excited and have a little boy's demur and childlike excitement over his interest.  
  
So they began gushing and going gaga over the various anime characters and they discussed excitedly about the different anime videos that were present. They discussed about Rurouni Kenshin aka Battousai, whose the hottie of the show and next they discussed about Soujirou, in which Shiyuan injected excitedly that Izumi loved Soujirou to pieces. Then Shinsani gushed that Kaoru was a pretty babe and they were on to the various characters like Yahiko, Kenji, Gentatsu, Misao, Megumi, Sanosuke, Aoshi, Shishio. All the essential things that a basic Rurouni Kenshin fan needs to know.  
  
So they went together for the next fencing lesson the next day and they had progressed to another higher standard of friendship. No longer the enemies, since Shiyuan had misunderstood him and his brown hair.  
  
Misaki-chan's end notes: Hi! This chapter is just an appetizer, no climax=) But I have gotten a plot for Shiyuan and Shinsani to get closer already! Yay! ^___^ 


	7. A dream come true

The story so far: The upcomings with Shiyuan's school-life and her encounters with Shinsani, the guy who slapped her for being rude. No cliffhangers so far, sadly.  
  
Chapter 7: A dream come true  
  
Shiyuan was at the fencing hall along with the other fencing students including Shinsani. She felt the Sabre sword' delicate movements as it cut through the air. She loved the feel of the sword as it pierced through the air and she loved the way it moved. She counter-parried Shinsani, who was her opposing partner and she was winning the sparring.  
  
Focusing on the movements of the sword and not caring about the beads of sweat trickling down uncomfortably on her face, she continued to spar and she won Shinsani hands down as she found herself standing with her sword pointed towards Shinsani's fencing suit and Shinsani was sprawled on the floor, defeated. Triumph was hers and she felt the extremely sugary sweet taste of victory and she took off her headgear and cheered with glee, dancing all around the fencing hall.  
  
Suddenly, she was diverted to an open area. An open field with vast greenery. This time, she was out of her fencing suit and was clad in a racer bike top and baby blue Capri pants. She looked at herself in horror and her dressing of clothes. Someone, who was shouting, interrupted her inner thoughts and she ran closer to the deeper end of the field which was emitting the funny noises. Shinsani was sitting behind the trunk of a tree, which covered him completely. The Baobab tree's tree leaves rustled as a strong gust of wind blew past them, knocking off, Shiyuan's BANDANA? " How did it even get to the top of my head?" She shrieked.  
  
Shinsani waved to her happily and said," "Look! I packed us lunch! Let's have a picnic here and enjoy the scenery!"  
  
Without thinking, Shiyuan sat down happily beside him on the red and white- tiled mat and took a neatly made toasted sandwich from the wooden basket. " Mhmm.this is delicious!" She commented as she smiled again.  
  
Shinsani laughed and said," Isn't Singapore beautiful? With this open air field.no land limitations.the beautiful countryside." Shiyuan nodded in agreement as she watched the beautiful scenery that lay before her and she enjoyed the sweet serene moment. She lay down in Shinsani's arms and snuggled up to him cosily but before she knew it.she was diverted into another dimension again.  
  
" Shinsani!!!" Shiyuan cried. She glanced up at the surroundings of the new dimension nervously and she gasped. " Is..is..is..th-this.a music studio?" She asked faintly. " Yes." Someone answered and Shiyuan jumped, not realizing she was the only one in the music studio. " My name's Cherissa. Cherissa Ludo. Nice to meet you." Cherissa was of tall height, well, at least taller than Shiyuan. She was dressed in a blue blouse with a grey skirt and a blazer worn on her shoulders. " You and Shinsani Homai are selected to sing for Singapore's newest and first anime production, The Attackers. It is an anime in the modern setting."  
  
Shiyuan stood rooted to the spot, obviously shocked by Cherissa's comments. " Are you kidding me???!!!" She spluttered. " Nope!" Cherissa said, smiling a ghost of a smile. Shiyuan was jumping up and down, hyperventilating. " OOH YAY! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO SOMETHING LIKES THIS! EVEN THOUGH IT WOULD BE MUCH MORE COOLER TO BE A VOICE ACTRESS!!!" Shiyuan exclaimed excitedly, showing her childlikeness behaviour.  
  
"SHIYUAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!" Shiyuan covered her ears but she could still literally hear the ear- splitting scream. Whoever was shouting into her ear was going to pay a price for it. Someone grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her forcefully and Shiyuan was yelling in pain. "HELP!" Suddenly, she felt a "divine intervention" [hehe 2p-rians should know about this] and she popped her eyes open, only to be shocked by the sight of her mother standing up beside her bed, glaring at her crossly.  
  
" Erm.err? May I know what happened?" Shiyuan asked sheepishly. She wiped off the sweat from her forehead, blushing deeply. Had she shouted out loud?  
  
" I was trying to wake you up but you were doing all sorts of funny things in bed. Now get out off bed NOW if you don't want to be late for school!" Shiyuan's mother said and she exited the room. Shiyuan flopped back on her bed tiredly and she sat straight up again.  
  
"That was indeed the weirdest dream I've had, in the fourteen years of my life" She mused aloud. She cringed at the part of the dream where she was having a picnic with Shinsani. "Oh well! Shiyuan no baka! It was just a dream! I'd better go settle now!" And Shiyuan automically jumped out of bed.  
  
On the way to school~~~  
  
Her footsteps were making light sounds against the gentle brushing of the rustled leaves that were coiled along the floor. "Hey!" Someone shouted as he came along to ruffle Shiyuan's neck-length hair, which was tied loosely with a red scrunchie. Shiyuan rolled her eyes as she obviously knew who the childish person was. Just think, whose childish enough to ruffle her hair at age fourteen and whose voice sounds like Donald Duck, but compares his voice to be as manly as Battousai's? Shiyuan casually took the scrunchie and re-tied her hair, glaring at the smiling Shinsani.  
  
"Have you seen Misaki and Izumi lately?" She asked.  
  
" Nope. They are taking different classes, which start from morning assembly." Shinsani explained, running his hand through his brown hair. Vainpot, thought Shiyuan. But he looks quite hot doing that anyway. Ahh whatever!  
  
" SHIYUAN!!!" Izumi and Misaki ran towards Shiyuan and stopped just right before, panting for breath. " Long time no see!" Misaki exclaimed. " Right.no time no see!" Izumi echoed and Shiyuan said," Totally! Long time no see!" " I thought you have different classes? Where.how.what's up?" Shinsani said. Izumi glanced at him and glanced back at Shiyuan. " Are you two dating?"  
  
"NO!" Was the immediate answer from the both of them.  
  
"Okay." Izumi shrugged before continuing to speak," Well, anyway, we just saw you walking so we just thought of saying hi to you before going to class. IT sucks being in different classes, eh?" With that, Misaki nudged Izumi and whispered," We are going to be late for Japanese history! Mr Genzai was just getting on to the part about samurais!!!"  
  
Izumi's eyes widened slightly and both girls chorused," Bye Shiyuan! Tata Shinsani!" They were off.  
  
"If fall along the way Pick me up and dust me off And If I get too tired to make it Be my breath so I can walk If I need some other love Give me more than I can stand And when my smile gets old and faded Wait around I'll smile again Shouldn't be so complicated Just hold me and then and just hold me again  
  
Can you help me I'm bent I'm so scared that I'll never get put back together Just breaking me in And this is how we'll end With you and me. Bent"  
  
Shiyuan swallowed and inhaled. She had just finished singing for the audition. How ironic it seemed. She dreamt of the future, and the event that was happening in her dream came true. Shiyuan recapped.  
  
" Class! We have a singing audition for all students of Furiko High! This audition is for all students to sing the song Bent for the newly Singapore- based production of its first ever anime, The tyrants! Isn't that cool? Yes, we need one girl and one boy to sing the "ballad' together. The audition starts this afternoon from 3pm to 6pm." Mr Cham announced proudly smiling his perpetual smile.  
  
~  
  
" Very nice!" One of the judges, Simon Cowell said. Usually, Simon Cowell, who was the judge on American Idol, would have criticized everybody at the auditions. However, Shiyuan was an extraordinary exception. Shiyuan smiled and took her leave. Crossing her fingers, she hoped that she would get the part and that her name would be on the results list which would be hung up in school tomorrow.Who would play the male singer? She thought. 


	8. Change of plans

Misaki's starting notes: Yes I'm inspired by Wing Him to update and write chapter 8!!! I had writer's block for one whole week-wondering how to start this chapter. Wing Him gave me a suggestion so the sort-of plot is credited to Wing Him the great! And more people have reviewed my Shiyuan fanfic! Yay! So I'm happy( this chapter is a bit short, because I wanted to leave the big stuff for the next chapter=)  
  
Important note: I haven't started writing chapter 9 yet due to loads of school tests in school recently.I failed my maths test,mangaed a scrap for my science test.so I gotta work harder! I would be updating the Shiyuan fanfic weekly! So the update should probarbly be between 4 feburary-14 feb..please continue supporting it! Thanks!  
  
Chapter 8: Change of plans  
  
The list of results were posted on the school's bulletin board. The male students, who had auditioned for the singing role of the male lead character, in the Singaporean-based anime, were crowded round the small bulletin board. They were crushing and huddling each other. On the bulletin board was pasted a piece of white paper, which said " Shinsani Homai- role of lead singer."  
  
All the guys who were crowding around to look at the results eyed Shinsani jealously and made faces at him childishly before stalking off. Shinsani was baffled to learn that he got the lead singing role- especially when he slacked and anyhow sang for the audition-since it was Mr Cham Kam Poo who insisted that he should take part in the audition.  
  
Ruffling his hair, he turned back to take another glance at the piece of white paper again. " Lead female singer- Fang Shiyuan" He smiled inwardly, a strange happiness reflecting his happy mood. Why am I so happy that Shiyuan is the lead singer? Oh, that means we will get to sing together! She is pretty nice lately- hopefully there will be a chance for us to get to know each other better and better!  
  
With that thought in his head, he skipped off happily, no longer bothered by the fact that he did NOT want to be chosen from the audition.  
  
Shiyuan, on the other hand, was curious to know who got to know the male lead singer part. " Come on!!!" She dragged the sleepy Laura, who had not yet fully awakened from her beauty sleep. " Okay.okay." She mumbled, allowing Shiyuan to grab her by her hand and pull her across the school compound to the little school bulletin board.  
  
" SHINSANI HOMAI-MALE LEAD SINGER???!!!" Shiyuan shrieked, her usual piercing scream. This naturally caused Laura to wake up from her daze completely and she stared at Shiyuan.  
  
" Do you see my incredulous eyes?" Laura asked dumbly.  
  
" I see your eyes with purple-shadow make-up." Shiyuan replied lamely.  
  
" It does go nice with my highlighted hair, doesn't it?" Laura smiled, obviously satisfied with her highlighted hair.  
  
Shiyuan turned to look back at the bulletin board before giving out another shriek." WHY MUST IT BE HIM???" She asked, knocking her forehead against the bulletin board. Laura shrugged and said," The teachers chose him. His performance was good. That was the only explanation. What else can there be?"  
  
Shiyuan rubbed her temple and she was groaning softly. Then she caught herself and her eyes opened and she suddenly smiled a big wide smile.  
  
" It wouldn't be that bad after all!" She said as an afterthought- immediately cheering up from her first reaction. " Think about it.we haven't quarrelled lately and he can give me tips on fencing. He is a real friend and I'm sure we can bring our friendship to greater heights! WHEE! Yay!" Shiyuan said, clasping her hands together with glee.  
  
Another girl, who rushed to the bulletin board knocked Shiyuan down to the ground as she was too eager to look at the results. The girl's face fell literally as she noticed the name of Fang Shiyuan in the space allocated for the female lead singer. She then noticed Shiyuan, who was groaning out in pain on the ground. "Oops! I'm so sorry! Let me help you out!"  
  
Shiyuan stood up with the help of the girl and she said," Be more careful next time!"  
  
" Aren't you.aren't you.Fang Shiyuan?" The girl asked, glancing once again at the bulletin board.  
  
Shiyuan rubbed her arm and replied," Yeah.so?"  
  
The girl started tearing and Shiyuan and Laura were glimpsing at her with fright and curiosity and concern.  
  
" Please.Shiyuan-san.Please." She began, the tears fully flowing down her cheeks were visible. " May I have the role of the female singer??? Please???" Laura, who was looking uncomfortable, whispered to Shiyuan," I think she has some private things to tell to you. I'll meet you at the dining hall when you're done." She walked away briskly, taking one last glance at the crying girl and Shiyuan.  
  
Shiyuan tossed a packet of tissue to the crying girl, which she took with immense gratitude. "Erm.do you want to sit?" Shiyuan asked with concern. They found benches to sit on.  
  
The girl blew her nose loudly and sniffed again. " My name is Fuko. I need, I MUST get the role of the lead singer. as this is really important to me.I need to fulfil my wish of having a singing experience before I leave for Florida for good! My parents are tour guides, and they will expect me to travel around the world with them. My interest in singing started since I was five. I need- I need to get this role! Please give it to me!" She blew her nose again.  
  
Shiyuan was staring at her. She did not know what to say. I mean, how do you comfort someone who wants you to give up their own singing role just for that someone's selfish needs? " Well." She cleared her throat.  
  
"PLEASE!!!" She begged again.  
  
Shiyuan looked around nervously and uncomfortably and just then, she was ultimately relieved. Her saviour had arrived, and he was no other than Shinsani Homai. The tall striking guy with a golden tan contrasted deeply with his brownish hair with tints of red sticking out and the way he looked when he walked suavely was enough to make girls go gaga and faint upon looking at him.  
  
" Shinsani!!! Over here!" She exclaimed. Shinsani, who noticed her, smiled and rushed towards her. Shiyuan explained what happened. Shinsani was also incredulous, as to how someone could be so blunt and rude to ask for the singing role. He turned to look at Shiyuan in the eye.  
  
" Are you willing to give your role to he?r" He asked, looking at her directly in the eye, not breaking eye contact. Shiyuan blushed and she shrugged her shoulders." I don't know." She replied softly.  
  
Fuko looked at her and grabbed her hand and squealed," PLEASE!!!!!" She was shaking Shiyuan's arm so hard Shiyuan felt her arm was being torn away by an octopus. " OKAY!!! I'LL GIVE MY ROLE TO YOU!!!" She said, and Fuko dropped her arm. Fuko's eyes twinkled with sudden delight and gone was her teary depressed face but it was replaced with a bright smile." ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!!!!!!!!!! I'll go tell Mr Cham Kam Poo now since he's the teacher in charge! BYE!!!! THANKS AGAIN SHIYUAN-SAN!!!!"  
  
Shiyuan sighed softly, which was noticed by Shinsani." You didn't have to do that you know." He said.  
  
" Look at the desperate look she had on her face? I know it's such a big honour to be chosen from hundreds of people but I guess I'd rather give the chance to other people who really really need it." She concluded.  
  
" If you aren't singing, so am I" Shinsani concluded.  
  
" WHAT?" Shiyuan exclaimed, half shocked and half curious by his action to do so. She stared at him with her hazel brown eyes.  
  
" There won't be much fun without you." He admitted.  
  
Shiyuan was speechless. " Then who will be the new male lead singer?" She pondered aloud.  
  
" Mr Cham can organise another audition or he can choose someone else." Shinsani said, as if the task was simple as ABC.  
  
" Are you willing to sacrifice that much for me? A chance to sing the main theme for Singapore's first produced anime-that's what we're talking about! Why are you willing to throw your chance away just like that?" Shiyuan said. " you're being a total idiot you know."  
  
"Then why are YOU willing to throw your chance away just like that?" Shinsani retorted.  
  
That left Shiyuan tongue-tied and she leaned back heavily on the bench. Shinsani sat down next to her. " So I won't sing.that way, both of us are equals." He affirmed firmly.  
  
" Hey Shinsani.thanks." Shiyuan muttered softly under her breath, but just loud enough for Shinsani to hear. He smiled at her warmly and gave her a thumbs-up sign.  
  
"WHAT!!!???" Mr Cham banged his fist down on his teacher's desk and some pens flew up in the air and settled down again on his desk. Shinsani and Shiyuan stood before him, telling him the news. Mr Cham let the news sink in before he lurched another outburst at them. " But.you two are perfect! Why are both of you retreating???" He asked fiercely, his eyes narrowing. Sadly, his glare didn't quite contain the effect he wanted them to be. He looked like a kiddy toddler trying to act fierce.  
  
" We already told you.we wish to excluded from this whole anime production singing thing." Shiyuan repeated herself, her voice sounding squeaky high.  
  
Mr Cham averted his gaze from Shiyuan to Shinsani and gazed back at Shiyuan again. There was complete silence in the room. Then Mr Cham let out a moan and he became teary-eyed, much to the couple's astonishment. " But.how could both of you do this to me???" He spluttered in between sobs. " The both of you are so perfect for the roles.if you gave your roles up just in order to satisfy someone's needs, that is too unworthy and selfish. The anime production won't have the effect that it originally was planned to have. The newly selected people will sing uglily-I mean, stupidly and the anime production will be a shame to hear." Mr Cham pulled out a tissue from his Tweety bird tissue box and dabbed his eyes.  
  
Both of them looked uncomfortably at each other. Now they realised the dreadful consequences of backing out. " What do we do?" Shiyuan whispered to Shinsani. " You mean about the crying Mr Cham or the singing audition?" Shinsani asked lamely. Rolling her eyes, she replied," Of course it's about the singing audition. What do we do?"  
  
Mr Cham was gazing at both of them with a thoughtful glint in his eyes and he suddenly stood up and said," I'VE GOT AN IDEA!" Both of them looked at him and said," WHAT?" I'll offer Fuko a chance to be the back voice of the song. You know those extra singers that will be needed to enhance the song?" He asked.  
  
Both of them knocked their foreheads with their palms and said," WHY OF COURSE! THAT'S SO LOGICAL!"  
  
" Baka deshis." Mr Cham muttered under his breath. He stopped crying and said," Leave this matter up for me, the great sensei, to solve the school affairs! I'll speak with Fuko now. The singing practises will resume tomorrow at 8pm. Do -"  
  
" 8PM??? Both students cried out, wondering why the singing practises were scheduled to be so late at night.  
  
Mr Cham looked at his sheet again and answered," Whoops-that was a blunder. I mean 4pm after school." He flashed a grin and both of them sighed in relief.  
  
" Ja ne Mr Cham!" Both of chorused before leaving the room.  
  
" Let me walk you home," Shinsani offered. Shiyuan obliged happily, glad that the problem was solved and she cursed herself for being so stupid so as to not think of a solution for Fuko without ruining the whole anime production.  
  
Their hands were still interlocked together. Both of them didn't notice this. They were probably too caught up and relieved that everything was okay and of course, they were looking forward to the next day-the first singing practise.  
  
Uh-oh. Shiyuan had forgotten completely about Laura, who was still waiting for her at the canteen. Laura who looked down from the fourth-level canteen, saw Shiyuan and Shinsani holding hands and walking out of the school gate together. Laura felt a bit annoyed that Shiyuan forgot about her completely but she also felt happy because Shiyuan and Shinsani were together, like a couple and things must have worked out between Shiyuan and Fuko. So, being the good-natured person that she was, she picked up her can of vanilla coke and gathered her books and walked down to the first level to take a cab home.  
  
Tomorrow would be a better day. 


	9. The singing trial

Misaki's notes: Hi Everybody! Teresa Huang just reviewed my fan fiction and she was laughing over the scene where Shiyuan and Shinsani did not notice their hands interlocking together^___^ WHEE~ Thanks! Thanks Mie Sensei for reviewingJ In the meantime, thanks for all your support and rock on!!! Please continue reading and reviewing! I'd be so exhilarated!!!=) Sorry for posting a note as one of my chapters- I had no idea I had violated one of the fanfiction.net rules=| I'll try to develop more of Cherissa's character as time passes. Happy Valentine's day to all!

Chapter 9: The singing trial

" But I do NOT want to dye my hair!!!" Shiyuan screamed. " No, no and NO!!!" She affirmed, frowning furiously in protest. Misaki and Izumi were studying Shiyuan, as if Shiyuan was some kind of buzzing midget insect that lay on a table. 

" But you must." Misaki assured her. " Well Mr Cham wanted both of you and Shinsani to dye your hair! Well, maybe not Shinsani, since his natural brown hair is the colour of red. But YOU…your hair is brown…boring brown!" Izumi chimed in. 

" Why must that stupid Mr Cham Kam Poo do this to me anyway???" Shiyuan said. " It's not necessary to dye my hair just for silly rehearsals and promotional pictures. After all, it's just a song that we are singing, we're not actresses and actors! Most schools here forbid their students to dye their hair and here I am, forced to dye my hair??? It's outrageous, stupendous, si-" Shiyuan was cut off, as she was pulled forcefully into passion hair Salon. 

Three and a half hours later, Shiyuan emerged from passion hair salon, her hands consciously touching her hair. " Mhmmmhmhmhmhmh" She grumbled to herself. Her hair was still her natural black, upon her insistence, with neat sparkling blue strips striped down at the sides of her hair. " At least the hair highlights are temporary!" Misaki said helpfully while Izumi had to run off for her kendo lessons. " Right…as if that would comfort me." Shiyuan scoffed. 

After a moment's thought, Shiyuan thought of a brilliant plan. An imaginary light bulb exploded in her head as she skipped off happily to complete her brilliant plan at home. She smiled inwardly at the prospect of the plan.

The next day:

" OMG!!! Shiyuan-san! WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR???" Izumi rushed to her, shrieking. Lessons had not begun and both of them were standing on the walkway into the entrance of Firerose high school. Shiyuan's hair was no longer black with nice blue highlights…rather, her hair was an alarming black minus the blue highlights and Shiyuan's hair –gasp- shone blue under complete sunlight! 

" I washed off the temporary highlights with a special shampoo that my mum recommended me for getting rid of ugly highlights and dyes! However, the shampoo seems to have a side effect and that is, my hair will be blue under complete sunlight! Isn't that so cool???" Shiyuan said happily, smirking away, obviously proud of her plan to turn her hair blue, like Kaoru's in the Rurouni Kenshin anime. 

As for Izumi, she shook her head, completely in awe at Shiyuan's –urm- brilliance. " Wish you good luck at your first singing practise today!" Izumi concluded as she hurried off to meet Misaki. 

At 4pm sharp, Shiyuan and Shinsani met up at the ecstatic singing studio to do some warm-ups before going for their first singing session. Without further ado, they started practising their vocals. " All right…both of you will sing acoustically to me first," Said Cherissa, the choir teacher. " 1,2,3 GO!" She said, tapping her hand on the wooden desk. 

Have you ever seen such a beautiful night I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright 

_When I see you smile and I go_

_Oh oh oh_

_I would never want to miss this_

_Cuz in my heart I know what this means_

Have you ever wondered what life is about?  
You could search the world and never figure it out  
you don't have to sail all the oceans   
no no no  
happiness is no mystery and   
here now it's you and me

Hey now  
Hey now  
This is what dreams are made of  
Hey now   
Hey now   
This is what dreams are made of   
I've got somewhere i belong   
I've got somebody to love   
This is what dreams are made of  


Shinsani kept tripping on his words while Shiyuan got irritated and as for Cherissa, she sighed at them. 

" Why can't you sing properly? You're supposed to sing the first verse! WHAT on earth are you muttering?" Shiyuan asked politely.

" Don't be a big-headed fool all right. Humans make mistakes, unlike you." Shinsani replied with a smug look.

" Are you saying that I'm inhumane???" Shiyuan asked, pouted.

Shinsani pretended to ponder for a moment before affirming his statement. " Why yes, I think so, ma'am." 

Shiyuan looked ready to hit Shinsani but Cherissa walked and stood between Shiyuan and Shinsani. " I shan't let the two of you spoil this whole rehearsal squabbling away. Continue rehearsing please. Shinsani, please remember to sing the first verse, Shiyuan, remember to sing the second verse."

The two of them began again. And they somehow got stuck. Shiyuan started singing the first verse together with Shinsani and Shinsani started singing the second verse together with Shiyuan and both did not sing the chorus. 

Whacking her head, Cherissa said," Alright alright. This singing practise will end today. I have a bad headache. Remember to rehearse your lines before you come for practise tomorrow and GET YOUR VERSES CORRECT!!!" 

She slammed the door behind her and walked off.

Please review!!!=)


	10. Just a little bit more spice!

Chapter 10: Just a little bit more spice!

Misaki's notes: I'm so sorry I've been dragging this chapter for so long!!! Thanks for all your lovely reviews. The date today is March 12, and all my common tests for the term are over!!! YAY!!! So it's time to bounce back and write this chapter although I have no inspiration=)

The story so far: Shinsani and Shiyuan are to sing for Singapore's anime production show. 

Scene: The next day, in the singing studio, at 4pm.

The clock struck 4pm and Cherissa glanced up from her stack of music score sheets. There was no sign of Shinsani and Shiyuan. Cherissa decided to give them more time allowance and she averted her eyes to the pieces of score sheets of her lap. She looked up at the clock five minutes later and she realised that there was still no sign of the duo. " Okay…relax relax." She told herself. She decided to give them even more time allowance. 

Thirty minutes passed and Cherissa was getting impatient. She strided angrily towards the studio door. _I shall mince them and slaughter them and give them a piece of my mind when I find them. _She opened the door and she almost collided her head with Shiyuan's and Shinsani's heads.

'WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN???" Cherissa demanded to know.

" We were eating breakfast." Shiyuan said curtly and dumbly.

" She's just kidding. We had music remedial."

" Oh man. What a liar. We were having maths remedial. Honestly."

" Oh no we weren't!"

" Oh yes we were!!!"

"STOP!!!!!!!! Just tell me the truth and get over with it, kiddos."

Shiyuan sighed and folded her arms. " We were practising our lines together and we failed to notice the time and that we were late, so we sped here as fast as we could."

" Sorry, will you accept our apology?" Shinsani added in helpfully.

Cherissa smiled and skipped happily back. " Sure okay! Come in!" Cherissa was after all, only a teenager too but she was a qualified choir teacher, so she does not behave exactly like any of the adult music teachers. At the back of her mind, she was inwardly laughing. _This is called tit-for-tat. _

"I'm so sorry to say but you won't be singing Hilary Duff's What dreams are made of song today. We are simply just trying out some different songs." I must not fail to add that Shinsani and Shiyuan's faces turned into stone upon her speech. " Today we shall try out Linkin Park's Breaking the Habit. How about that? There are different genres of music. We did pop-rock yesterday, so we shall do rock today." 

"But…it's unfair…" Shiyuan pouted.

" Or would you rather do William Hung's She bangs?" Cherissa asked slyly, with a twinkle in her eyes.

" Urm…Linkin Park it will be then."

The duo continued singing and singing and singing until Cherissa was pleased. They practised to pitch their tone voices and tried to sing off-pitch, much to Cherissa's displeasure. Cherissa was ready to use her trick on them. " And now…both of you will sing Titanic and both of you ARE to do some dance actions while both of you are singing. NO ARGUMENTS WHATSOEVER! NOW… QUICKLY!" Cherissa said, with a nice tone of sarcasm in her voice. She handed both of them the Titanic lyrics for " When my heart go on" and ushered them to the middle of the humungous music studio.

Shiyuan blinked. Shinsani blinked too. It was so obvious Cherissa was setting them up for purpose and probably because she wanted to punish them for being so late. " teachers…" Shiyuan murmured, sighing in despair. _Oh well, what can I do? I shall just have to be a little spontaneous. After all, I don't want to kick up another fuss in front the music instructor. Once is enough. And why would I even want to embarrass myself with this little downtown boy called Shinsani?_

As for Shinsani, he looked a little uncomfortable. DANCE ACTIONS? _That will be way too awkward. _He decided that he should use an excuse to cover up. " Cherissa Missy, can we not do dance actions? It's a bit awkward, since both of us have not practised and we don't like to improvise on the spot." 

Cherissa pondered for a moment before smiling her cheery gleaming smile and she replied," NOPE! Dance actions and singing!" 

Shinsani's shoulders slouched as he walked back to where Shiyuan was standing. Shiyuan was trying to resist the temptation not to roll her eyes. 

Cherissa looked at her watch and said shrilly," OOH! I've got to go for a short briefing by the board of the music directors regarding this whole anime production! I'll be back. Both of you are now given the time and opportunity to INVENT NEW DANCE ACTIONS and sing! I'll be back! DON'T SKIVE!!!" With that, she left the music studio and the door closed behind her.

" So what do we do now?" Shiyuan asked, ignoring the fact that only both of them were alone in the music studio.

" Let's practise I guess…" Shinsani awkwardly replied. He was still feeling awkward.

So they sat down on the floor together and listed out and organised the different verses that both of them would have to sing, then they tried singing the verses together and they fitted so well! Their good singing was tantamount to a duet with Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson!!! 

" What about the dance steps…" Shinsani asked.

"Erm…er…" Shiyuan stuttered and she was starting to feel awkward too. " Take some dance steps from Titanic the movie? How about we give Cherissa an excuse that we only finished practising the singing parts but we had no time to invent dance steps?"

Shinsani frowned. " That's dishonest…besides…she's already punishing us by making us do this Titanic song-dance item. Obviously she will punish us even more if we do not complete this dance item. Don't be stupid!" He hit Shiyuan's head, much to Shiyuan's surprise.

" Alright alright…" Shiyuan said and they started doing some dance moves. Some dance steps included swinging of the arms, doing splits, jumping around, doing a mini-kallang wave and they were stuck when it came to the ending position. Both of them were cracking their heads to think of a good pose…until Shinsani came up with something.

" Let's do the titanic ship-like pose!!!" Shinsani exclaimed enthusiastically, forgetting his momentarily awkwardness.

Shiyuan looked at him and stared imploringly at him with her big hazel brown eyes. " You mean the scene where Rose and Jack cuddle together and Rose holds out her two hands and they kiss?" She said matter-of-factly.

Shinsani scratched his head and had a sheepish look on his face. " erm…yes?" Was his reply.

Shiyuan continue staring at him, not producing any sound. " And why would you think of such a move?" Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at him, silent moodiness overcoming her. 

" Because the scene looks nice?"

" Oh right. I thought you were a plain pervert that's all." Shiyuan said bluntly. " So are we still doing that scene?" She asked, choosing to ignore Shinsani's delayed and big reaction when he heard that comment about him being a pervert.

" Firstly, it's up to you and secondly, I am under no circumstances, a pervert!!!" Shinsani retorted like a spoilt kid, who resembled a child arguing with a teacher that 2+2=5. 

They got into position. Shinsani slid his arms around Shiyuan's waist, Shiyuan then found her hands interlocked with Shinsani's hands. 

" wait…I'm not supposed to be locking hands with you!!! I'm supposed to stretch my arms out remember?" Shiyuan asked. So they re-positioned themselves and they began singing on the spot, with Shinsani's hands on her waist and people peeping in from the music studio would have thought that they looked like a couple making out.

They soon began absorbed in singing Titanic's " My heart will go on" and they did not notice Cherissa, who had come back from her meeting, peeping in from outside the music studio's peep-through window. Cherissa smiled inwardly and giggled girlishy, clearly enjoying the chance to witness the process whereby Shiyuan and Shinsani…well, got closer together and their er, relationship strengthened. _They should thank me…I brought them one step closer to each other!!! _

"My heart will go on and on…." They finished singing the last note and they looked into each other's eyes. It was something indescribable and soon, Shinsani found himself pulling Shiyuan closer to him and both of them closed their eyes and they were so close…just so close to each other…their lips touched briefly for a moment before they heard a loud bang-the opening of the door with Cherissa collapsing as she lost her footing. Guess she was just too intent on capturing the scene until she forgot to take precautions for herself and alas, she ruined the perfect moment. Shiyuan heard the commotion, and she quickly pulled away from Shinsani, but Shinsani was still clinging on to her and so, both of them ended up falling on the floor. 

"Erm…er…GREAT PERFORMANCE? I WATCHED BOTH OF YOU FROM OUTSIDE! GOOD JOB!!!" Cherissa complimented both of them, a tad embarrassed at being exposed of her "guilty" sin. Shiyuan, who had never blushed before, was actually blushing! Her cheeks were a deep flush of red as she stood up as Shinsani helped her up. He too was blushing a little. 

Cherissa sighed and decided that the joke was over. " OKAY! We shall start serious training during the next session, which is next week. We will be focusing on the main theme's song, which is "What Dreams are made of" by Hilary Duff. See both of you soon!" She walked off again, like she did during the previous session.

Shiyuan and Shinsani were clearly embarrassed and both of them went to pick up their bags before heading off in different directions to go home after muttering goodbyes to each other.

Back at home, Shiyuan sat on her bed, running her hands through her blue-blackish hair as she sighed in confusion. "What in the world is happening to me and him???!!! He's supposed to be my enemy, for he was the one who slapped me at first sight. But why was he so sweet to me??? Why did he sacrifice so much for me, from teaching me how to fence to offering to drop out of the anime theme production song for me?" She lay down on her bed. " IT'S NOT FAIR…WHATEVER HAPPENED IN THE MUSIC STUDIO WAS NEVER MEANT TO HAPPEN!!! NO!!!" Shiyuan screamed aloud, screaming one of her infamous shrieking shrill. She refused to accept the realisation that…she had fallen in love with Shinsani…

Reviews please!!! THANKS!!!


	11. The Friends' Opinions

**Author's notes: it's been so long since I wrote a chapter for the shiyuan fanfic. Things have not really been going smoothly for me. I missed my exams but of course I had a valid reason. Pardon me if the chapter sounds strange or whatever-I will get back on my tracks. Thanks!**

**Chapter 11: The Friends' Opinions**

"The bluest sky should be infinitely high and crystal clear," Shiyuan read aloud. She was in her bedroom on a sunny Saturday morning, reading aloud some of her favourite anime characters' favourite catchphrases. Oh, wait a minute. It was not that Gentatsu was her absolute favourite in the anime Rurouni Kenshin, it was just that she needed some form of distraction and reading aloud phrases was her favourite way of getting distracted.

"WHY DOES HE KEEP POPPING UP IN MY HEAD???" Shiyuan screamed as she flung her body back on the bed forcibly, in a resigned state. The past day's memories haunted her.

Shiyuan closed her eyes, memories flooding back into her head. She revisited the scene when Shinsani and her were in the music studio, and their music teacher had deliberately made them do funny actions to sing along with the song, My heart will go on. She remembered the awkwardness and yet the strong touch of Shinsani as they interlocked their arms together in a standing position, just like Jack and Rose in the famous movie blockbuster Titanic. She remembered the closeness that she felt towards him at that moment. She remembered looking into his eyes and seeing his hazel brown eyes that seemed to penetrate deep into his soul. She remembered how momentarily handsome he was at that flash of a moment. She remembered his scent and she remembered his unique hair colour. She smiled a little at the thought of them becoming intimate. Alas, the truth was, both of them were infatuated with each other but refused to accept the truth.

"Alright…ladies! Make yourselves at home!" Laura said as she picked up a McDonalds bag full of French fries. Putting one French fry into her mouth, she chewed it slowly to savour the wonderful taste of fast food.

"Your house is so pretty Laura!" Misaki gushed.

Indeed Laura's house was splendid-looking. It was three levels high. The living room was nicely furnished with black leather sofas and a PHILIPS television set. The living room was linked to the dinner table. The walls were beautifully decorated with pictures of Christianity. Laura's room was like a Barbie dollhouse set. Located on the third floor, Laura's room had the theme Starry Night. Her bed was splashed with dark purple and twinkling stars bed sheet covers. Her walls were hung with posters that featured beautiful nature. Her dressing table had all sorts accessories from lip gloss to eye shadow. Her cupboard was spilling with a gazillion clothes that she had spent her monthly allowances on. The floor was furnished with a dark blue carpet that summed up the whole theme.

" I didn't know you were a nature's girl," Izumi commented as she took a sip from her Vanilla Coke can.

Laura smiled and said," Well…welcome to the world of Laura!"

" I still don't get it. Why did you invite both of us over?" Misaki asked, puzzled.

Laura said thoughtfully," Do both of you know about the latest up comings with Shiyuan and Shinsani?"

Misaki and Izumi nodded their heads vigorously. The news had spread like wildfire throughout the school campus. Both of them expected something like that to happen.

"So my main sole aim today is to invite both of you over to give me your views and we shall have a discussion on their relationship. After all, we are Shiyuan's best friends and yes, we shall intervene with their business. If necessary, we shall do something to force the pair to admit that they are in love with each other." Laura concluded.

"You're wicked…" Izumi remarked, shaking her head. She smiled widely and looked at Misaki, who smiled with a guilty conscience too.

The three girls sat down on the floor, with the comfort of snacks and drinks. They decided to go in rounds to comment about Shiyuan and Shinsani.

Misaki went first. " I feel that both of them are running away from reality. Shiyuan especially."

Izumi went second. " If only both of them could just be normal and go steady."

Laura went third. " But remember, Shiyuan still blames Shinsani for slapping her. It was like a heinous crime in her opinion."

" But Shinsani did so many things to make up for it. He taught Shiyuan how to fence and he apologized profusely for it." Misaki argued.

" But that can't undo the fact that Shinsani had indeed slapped her." Laura debated.

" OOH I KNOW!!!" Izumi jumped up from the ground suddenly, startling the rest. Misaki and Laura looked at her with bewildered expressions, expecting her to speak of her wonderful and fantastic idea.

" Let's take Shiyuan for shopping at the Heeren again! Who knows, the rurouni kenshin soundtracks's stocks may be replenished again! Shiyuan will be elated! And we shall…invite Shinsani to be there at the Heeren too!" Izumi said, obviously proud of her idea.

It was then decided that Misaki should call up Shinsani, for she was brilliant at disguising the truth and she could twist the matter of things so that Shinsani would not suspect a single thing that was about to take place. Laura would call up Shiyuan to invite her out to Orchard Road for fun whereas Izumi would receive confirmation from both sides and organize the time and setting.

Shinsani was pacing in his bedroom. He was contemplating whether to attend fencing training later. As if instinct caught him, he looked up at the note placed neatly on his bulletin board stuck on the wall, at his study area. The note read," Fencing training only resumes three weeks later, as the coach has to return to Japan for some personal business." Letting out a sigh, he flopped down his bed, his hands behind his head, and he pondered. _At least I won't have to face her for three weeks…singing practice doesn't resume until one week later too…How do I feel about her? It was all too weird…simply too weird for me to comprehend my feelings for her…in the music studio. Damn that Cherissa singing coach…for putting us in such an awkward spot. How am I supposed to look at Shiyuan in the eye from now on? Oh well…I sort of…I don't know…I don't want to think about it…_

The ringing of his cordless phone interrupted his thoughts. Grabbing the phone and pressing the talk button, his weary voice boomed a weary hello. " HEY SHINSANI!" Misaki screamed into the phone, causing him to jump up from his lying position in shock. "What…" He had wanted to say the word bitch…but then again…he refrained himself as he realized it was Shiyuan's friend, Misaki on the other line.

" Ooh Misaki it's you…what's up?" He asked.

" Hey do you want to hang out at the Heeren tomorrow? I'm feeling kind of…hmm…bored with my butt stuck at home right now. Besides, there are some things I shall have to discuss with you. I understand your mind is in a whirl right now…never fret! I'm here to help out!" Misaki's gregarious voice sounded.

" Erm…like…I need your counseling?" Shinsani replied sarcastically.

" Oh hey! It was just a kind offer! So anyway, would you like to come? It will be fun!" Misaki said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

" Alright…I guess it's better than rotting at home…aren't you going to tell me the time and stuff?" He asked.

" Well, believe it or not, I haven't planned that yet. Can I call you back in half an hour's time?" Misaki asked.

Shinsani said yes and they put down the phone. It was a good thing he did not suspect a single thing about this fishy business.

While at Shiyuan's place…

"Hi Shiyuan!" Laura said chirpily.

" Oh hey Laura…" Shiyuan said in a somewhat depressed tone. Clearly she was troubled, for the usual bubbly Shiyuan would have shrieked through the phone for she would be so happy for a friend to call her up.

" Aww cheer up man! You sound totally awful…unlike your usual self! I have a brilliant idea! Let's hang out at the Heeren tomorrow! I believe the rurouni kenshin soundtrack stock has been replenished! Misaki and Izumi will be coming too! See, isn't the offer tempting?" Laura said enthusiastically.

Shiyuan pondered for a moment before she cheered up a little. A little weight had been lifted off her shoulders and heart. " Rurouni kenshin soundtracks do sound extremely tempting indeed!!! Alright! What time shall we head down to the stores tomorrow?"

Laura replied," Well believe it or not…I wanted to call you up first to confirm if you're going before I decided on the time. Can I call you back in half an hour?"

Shiyuan agreed and put down the phone. Laura crossed her fingers and hoped their plan would work out successfully.

Misaki and Laura contacted Izumi and they worked out a perfect time-2pm at the Heeren on Sunday afternoon.

Recently, Laura had installed a three-way phone system. It meant that three people could talk on the phone at the same time. It certainly proved to be really useful.

" We shall find a time to slip away when both of them are in the Heeren….Misaki shall have to pick up Shinsani from Somerset MRT. Remember, Shiyuan CANNOT see Shinsani beforehand. Laura, you will go to Shiyuan's house and Shiyuan's mother will fetch both of you to the Heeren directly. For me, I'll be at the Heeren directly and will be contacting both of you to make sure the plan isn't foiled. Misaki, go and call Shinsani and ask him to meet up at a later time…like say…3pm so that Shiyuan can have time to do some shopping first. Laura, you go to Shiyuan's house at 1.50pm. For me, I'll be at the Heeren all the way from 2pm onwards. Good luck girls!" Izumi said strategically.

That night, three friends crossed their fingers and hoped for the best for their dearest friend and her dearest partner. That night, two people were also confused and tormented by the mere memory of the incident in the music studio. That night, the same two people did not know what was in store for them. It was a definite surprise that would hopefully work out.

THE NEXT DAY….

Sunday was a beautiful mix of sunny weather and wind. Birds high up in the green lush trees chirped songs and the morning dawn of fresh air was intoxicating to one's senses. From 8am onwards, the quiet roads will be filled with roaring vehicles, people rushing to and fro work (for those extremely hardworking people who love their jobs) and people attending church services. The whole of Singapore would be awake soon and everybody would up bustling on the streets. Orchard Road, which is the heart of Singapore, will be packed with tourists, Singaporean families and Singaporean teenagers.

The clock struck 2pm. Laura and Shiyuan met up with Izumi at the opening of the Heeren. Laura was clad in a purple racer bike top complete with lime green hipster Bermudas. Izumi dressed Japanese style. She was clad in a sweet black miniskirt with a yoga top, complete with a hat and high multi-coloured knee-length socks. Shiyuan was dressed in an all-Singaporean look. She wore a nice baggy blue top that said," I'm screaming my head off" with Levis' Jeans. The three of them smiled at each other.

" Where's Misaki?" Shiyuan asked, her wide eyes spilling with innocence.

" She's running late…" Izumi said as she pretended to check her handphone.

Shiyuan nodded in understanding as Laura whizzed her off into the mega HMV music store. The HMV had too many a memories for Shiyuan. Shiyuan walked slowly through the entire all-too familiar place. "The Japanese soundtrack music area is on the second floor," Shiyuan concluded as her feet got on the steps of the escalator. Laura and Izumi followed suit and they tried to smile, smiling brightly despite their anxiety for their surprise. Soon, they reached the area.

"HEY WAIT!" Izumi screamed midway up the escalator. Shiyuan jumped a little and gave her a look. " You scared me with your psychotic self you know…" She commented.

The three of them got off the escalator on the second floor. Izumi said hurriedly," Misaki wouldn't like it if… if…you went ahead to buy any rurouni kenshin merchandise without her…I was thinking…we do some shopping first before she comes and then we can go into HMV together."

Shiyuan thought for a while and smiled logically." That makes sense! Come on then, I'm sure we shall have loads of shopping to do before Misaki arrives!" Shiyuan skipped ahead out of the HMV store, leaving Laura and Izumi behind.

"That was sure some good thinking…you wanted Shiyuan and Shinsani to meet up again in the HMV store right?" Laura whispered to Izumi. Izumi let out a sigh of relief and nodded her head. " You sure are smart Laura…" She commented. Laura smirked.

For the next one whole hour, the three girls did some girly stuff. First they visited the badges shop called Bloomington. It was a gifts shop and sold all kinds of badges with funny and sarcastic remarks. Shiyuan bought five badges and one perfumed sunflower toy. They headed down to the Wallet Shop but could not find any wallets suitable. They then went down to hit the clothes store, much to Laura's delight. "If only Misaki was here too…to share my sentiments on clothes!" She murmured under her breath.

Laura bought a vintage white long-sleeved top for Misaki as a present and the three girls decided to buy three long knee-length multi-coloured socks. They proceeded to spend $24 on taking neoprints-their favourite indulge.

"GRRRRR…Why did I have to volunteer to pick that stupid boyfriend of Shiyuan's up….I'm simply regretting my choice." Misaki was kicking herself mentally as she regretted her decision to drag Shinsani into the surprise plan. She sat down on the statue benches available in the MRT station. Scratching her neck, she was thinking of 100 ways to rid herself of boredom. She checked her McDonalds watch and it read, 2.55pm. Shinsani was on his way soon. Well, he'd better be.

The MRT train came to a halt and the electronic doors opened. Out came Shinsani looking so…cool. Yes, that was the word to describe him! His hair was slick back, he was wearing a baggy shirt and baggy pants and a beanie hat on his head. IT fitted his tall athletic build excellently. He was wearing sunglasses that totally put Misaki off. "Take that sunglasses off…oh please…do you really think you're Mr DJ Cool Personality?" Misaki snapped sarcastically.

Shinsani shrugged as he took off his sunglasses. Misaki sms-ed Izumi to inform her that both of them would be entering the Heeren now. "Let's hit the shops then!" Misaki said, in a somewhat strained tone. Both of them began walking and crossing the pedestrian's crossing into the Heeren shops.

Meanwhile, Izumi received the sms. " Misaki has arrived! Let's wait for a little while for her to get into the Heeren shops. She requests for us to meet her at the Rurouni Kenshin music area specifically!" Izumi announced to the other two. The two of them smiled and nodded.

After five minutes, they made their way up the second level to the Rurouni Kenshin section. Izumi squatted on the floor, her face hidden from the other two. Shiyuan frowned and asked with concern what the matter with Izumi was. Izumi looked up at her with a pained expression and said," Bad stomachache…I seriously need the toilet." Laura looked at the two them with faked concern. The both of them were doing a great job at being good actresses!

"I shall have to take her to the toilet then…she's so troublesome…" Laura stated, sighing. Shiyuan nodded and said," I'll wait here for Misaki then!" Laura helped Izumi up from the floor. Izumi winced in pain and she clutched her stomach tightly, as if the excruciating pain was killing her internally. The two disappeared from sight soon.

"OH SHIT!!!" Misaki screamed, startling Shinsani. Shinsani rolled his eyes. Misaki's vague big expressions were getting on his nerves. " WHAT?" He grumbled in an irritated tone.

" I…I…I…have some menses cramps…I seriously think I need to go to the toilet…" Misaki replied sheepishly, obviously acting.

Shinsani replied with an " Oh".

"Meet me at the rurouni kenshin music section of HMV! Bye!" Misaki said before she sprinted off to the Ladies before Shinsani even had time to reply.

The CDs on the racks of the Japanese music section shelves were beautifully rearranged in order of alphabetical order. Her fingers quickly browsed to the R section. There were three new soundtracks sitting down there. Shiyuan's wide eyes widened as she could not believe her eyes. The Rurouni Kenshin stock was finally replenished after a long era!!! It was an indescribable feeling of instant happiness on the spot, for a rurouni kenshin fanatic. Shiyuan picked up the rurouni kenshin DEPARTURE soundtrack from the racks gently and stared at the cover. A smile was spreading on her lips.

Suddenly, she noticed someone standing behind her…breathing… She figured it was someone who was taller than her as she felt that someone's hot breath down her neck. Her feelings of being on cloud nine turned into feelings of irritation. The reflection on the CD cover showed it was a guy covered with a beanie bag. " Act cool," She muttered under her breath. She turned around and faced that guy and the sight of him shocked her. The departure soundtrack fell to the ground with a large plonk.

**END! YAY! IT'S FINALLY DONE!!! THIS MUST BE MY LONGEST CHAPTER SO FAR!!! YAY!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!! THANKS SO MUCH!!! TWIRLS**


	12. The Major Twist

" The sight of what she was before her shocked her. The Rurouni Kenshin soundtrack dropped to the floor with a large plonk."

**Chapter 12- The Major Twist**

Both of them were startled. Time seemed to freeze momentarily on the spot as both of them stared deep into the ocean depths of each other's eyes, as if this was an intense staring session, where people were paid to stare at their opponents. Shiyuan had had turned behind and to her horror, she had seen the person she had least wanted to see. It was Shinsani wearing a stupid, ridiculously looking beanie bag on his head.

"NO!!!" She screamed internally, wishing to scream it out loud, but a huge lump magically formed in her throat on the spot and strictly forbade her to mutter anything. She then got lost in her concentration of staring into his nice blue eyes, it was as if she could tell from his eyes, whether his intentions were good or bad.

Time seemed to defreeze again and Shiyuan forced herself to gaze down at the Departure soundtrack, breaking eye contact with Shinsani. Her awkwardness turned into anger and irritation after she saw the fragile CD case, which was lying on the floor, had spilt with a large horizontal crack at the front of the cover. "Why did you have to be here at this moment?" Shiyuan said in a tone obviously full of irritability.

Shinsani recovered from his shock and remarked, " It's YOUR fault YOU had to drop the soundtrack and now its lovely cover has been disfigured. It's all thanks to YOU!"

Shiyuan's eyes widened incredulously. " If YOU hadn't come here and if I didn't feel a hot dragon puffing hot air on my neck, I wouldn't have gotten a shock at seeing your face and so, I wouldn't have dropped the cd!" Shiyuan revolted, now positively pissed off with Shinsani and his stupid bombastic excuses.

He was about to snarl a remark at her when his eyes darted nervously towards the outside of the mega music store. Shiyuan was startled because she had never seen Shinsani looking scared before. "WHY?" She proceeded to ask loudly, totally unaware that she was attracting attention from other customers. Shinsani's blue eyes narrowed in fright as he pushed Shiyuan further into the HV store. Shiyuan was so dense she could not comprehend his intentions and she ended up mistaking them for bad intentions.

"I need to know what happened." Shiyuan stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

" No you don't need to." He whispered, his hands stirred her shoulders to move even further into the store. They were in a dark area of the mega store. The dark area was lit up with special showcase white lights that featured 100 over different kinds of anime posters that were cleverly hung up on the walls and hangers.

"JUST TELL ME!" She whined.

" No." He stated.

Shiyuan took a deep breath." NO," She ordered herself inwardly. She would not allow herself to scream again in a public place. She was vaguely aware that Shinsani kept stealing quick glances at the outside of the store and she wondering if he was afraid that a group of gangsters would storm into the store and beat him to a pulp. "NO!" Her mind screamed again. Under NO circumstances would she scream in public and be the symbol of embarrassment again, she reminded herself. But…but…Shinsani's senseless replies were driving her to her driving point! It was unbearable…it was TORTURE to restrain herself.

Shinsani turned his head to and fro to look at Shiyuan and the location outside the mega store. He knew he had to silence Shiyuan before she screamed and put up an attack that would draw attention from everybody. Before Shiyuan could even voice out any sarcastic remark to Shinsani, he was flinging himself towards her. Three fingers caressed her face as he drew in to French kiss her. "Ahh…the pure bliss…" Shiyuan hesitated for a moment before pushing Shinsani off her with force. " Just shut up and DIE, Shinsani." Shiyuan said, her voice sounding like it was filled with venom. With a flip of her ponytail, she stormed out of the mega store, the Departure cd still lying on the floor and Shinsani still standing in the store, gaping after her back shadow with an embarrassed and regretful expression.

After a while when he finally noticed the coast was clear, he stalked off, out of the store and passed a quick remark to the three friends of Shiyuan who were looking at him with dopey hopeful expressions on their perpetual faces. " It didn't work out." He stated simply. The three girls marveled at him in surprise at his intelligence to figure out their actual motive of the surprise plan. Shinsani was one intellectual guy and not to be messed with.

-Asteroid symbol-

His canvas shoes brushed against the floor of the roads as his feet quickened its pace. He neared the house. Pushing the door open with his hand clamming the doorknob tightly, he closed the door with a bang and leaned against the door, gasping slightly. A few birds flew across the black-streaked sky that no longer held any tint of brightness. The sun had set. Small beads of sweat trickled down his face profusely like water streaming down a waterfall and his eyes were widened with a look of terror, shock and fright. He felt as if his heart was in his mouth and all noises were blocked out of his eardrums.

Escape. That was the right word to use.

He was awakened from his world of thoughts as a sound wave erupted the nerves of his eardrums. "What?" Shinsani looked at his mother, who was standing before him. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was now safe at home, away from the harsh reality outside. His mother stared at him in suspicion as she put in a plate of spaghetti into the microwave oven and pressed some buttons to heat it up.

" Is everything okay?" She began.

"Nothing better." Was his dull, inattentive reply.

Shinsani's mother gave him another long hard stare. She knew he wasn't paying attention to her and he was probably crossing his fingers behind his back for answering that answer. While taking out the readily heated spaghetti from the microwave oven, she asked," So how was your day at Orchard Road with your friends?"

" It sucked. It did not work out for me…" Shinsani mumbled depressingly to himself.

"Guess things didn't work out for you and the girl of your dreams, huh?"

Shinsani glanced up at his mother in surprise and saw a mocking smirk plastered on her face. " It's alright! Perseverance is what it takes to win the girl's heart!" With that, she left the kitchen, leaving Shinsani and his plate of spaghetti to glare after her.

-Asteroid sign-

The non-deciduous leaves on the trees rustled a tingly sound in the windy and chilly atmosphere. Flowers on the bougainvillea trees were blooming and it was a pretty sight of blushingly pink in the scenery. The soft gust of wind softly caressed her face as her angry composure left her sulking to herself. Her footsteps dragged hardly against the floor with irritation, as if the floor owed her a living. She would have enjoyed the beautiful weather on a Monday morning, if not for a particular brown-haired someone whom we was still brooding over.

The school bell rang its usual melody tone of Boa's "Atlantis Princess" (that's how cool the school is!) She sighed to herself as she climbed up the staircase wearily. She was all alone. She had not spoken to her three friends ever since she stormed out of the Heeren in a perturbed mood. She wondered if they had anything to do with Shinsani. It was too much of a coindence. "Ahh. Whatever. I hate that guy and I will never get tangled in a relationship with **HIM**." She thought. With that positive state of mind, she entered the classroom. She was Shiyuan.

-Asteriod sign-

One week had passed. Shinsani had not attended school at all and that was surprisingly shocking to all the teachers, because he was a diligent and obedient kid, whom they swore, would never ever play truant in a million years. He was also not at home, much to the immense anxiety of his parents, who filed a police report.

" He's our only child!!!" The couple said, sobbing.

" WHAT? NO!!! We can't finish the anime song production without Shinsani! That will mean it can no longer be a duet song!" Cherissa shrieked, her hands flying to her head.

" What about we re-audition for a new guy? There's still one more week before intensive choir training resumes right?" One student suggested.

Cherissa glared at the student with dagger eyes. " NO. Shinsani's the best choice ever. Without him, there will be no anime song production."

" And I will have no fencing partner…" Shiyuan muttered. She had heard of the news in school and was dumbfounded. Something clicked in her head and she was reminded of his perpetual scared reactions in the Heeren. Perhaps the reason he did such an indecent thing to her was because he was trying to hush her up and not attract their attention. Could he have been running away from someone? It was an upsetting thought. Shiyuan, who was stubborn and strong-willed, wanted to go confirm her suspicions and find Shinsani. She intended to go to Orchard Road that Friday afternoon to look for clues. **She had to try.**

"I will not involve any of my other friends in danger, so I will investigate all by myself. It's safer this way." She said firmly.

**Author's notes: How was that? Better? Nice? LOL. Please leave a review=) even if it's only a smiley face!!!=) thanks!**


	13. My desired mission

** Chapter 13: My desired mission**

* * *

**Author's note: I want to thank Cherissa for pushing me to finish this chapter and for reminding me countless times to give it a happy ending. She also helped me get rid of my writer's block by providing me some ideas that I managed to twist and edit! EnjoyDedicated to Cherissa!**

* * *

The conference room was huge. No, massive was the correct word to describe it. The whole board of directors, who were dressed in elegant business-like black suits, sat down on the velvet black comfy chairs that surrounded the wide, long table. The boss of the whole company entered the room. He had long hair that was highlighted in a funky colour of yellow. There was a red bandana tied around his forehead. Many bosses of their companies were stern and strict and proper in their grooming, but not this boss. He was a ripe age of twenty-three years old and his name was Mr. Sanosuke Sagara. With a playful childlike smile etched on his face, he said cheerfully," Shall we being the meeting?" The company's name was the Singaporean-Japanese association of Fencing School. The company was a well-established fencing school which was co-joined by the two countries.

"Mr. Sagara," One female board director began. She had let her straight rebonded hair down her shoulders. She was and looked like an Asian beauty. Her name was Megumi. Mr. Sagara slapped himself internally and told himself to stop staring at Miss Megumi and instead, pay attention to what she had to say." This boy…has violated the rules of or company's contract!!!" Megumi said as she tried to keep her anger in check.

" Please explain everything clearly," Mr. Sagara said as he leaned back into the comfort of his chair. Megumi continued," One year ago, a boy named Shinsani Homme signed a contract with the Singaporean-Japanese association of Fencing school. The contract has stated clearly that our company would give him a fencing scholarship to study in the Singapore school of fencing. His parents are businessmen that fly to and fro from Japan and Singapore. So after much consideration for this scholarship, they decided to migrate and stay put in Singapore. Shinsani purposely violated the rules of the contract by enrolling himself into a local school!" Megumi said angrily, pounding her fist onto the marble-tiled table.

"Okay…but why did you discover his offense at such a late period of time?" Mr. Sagara questioned doubtfully. Megumi rolled her eyes.

" Our company has always had responsible and talented youngsters who abide by the rules of our contract, so obviously we don't have to go and check on them after we have issued them contracts. It was only recently announced in the news that two students of Jefirerose High School was going to sing for the new anime production and we discovered Shinsani was actually singing in it!"

" Why do you and the other directors in the room have such black faces?" Mr. Sagara asked again, obviously incapable of understanding the serious offence that the youngster had just committed. " Because…we tried to confront him and ask him nicely to come back to our company and he actually resisted arrest from our officers. The worst thing is, he has run away from home and has not been attending school for one week!" Megumi finished her speech through gritted teeth. All the other directors were nodding vigorously in agreement.

" Oh so now I DO see the problem." Mr. Sagara said aloud thoughtfully. Megumi rolled her eyes and barked in agreement," Yeah…it could have taken longer than a century for you to acknowledge that fact." "So what do we do now? The boy's missing…" One of the directors piped up. The boss's fingers drummed the table as he pondered for a solution. "Does he have any close friends? Where are their usual hangouts?" He asked.

Everybody flipped open their thick files of research and searched under the FRIENDS page. Fang Shiyuan was listed as the first friend. "Fang Shiyuan…"Megumi read aloud. " She's Shinsani's fencing partner in school and she's also the girl whose supposed to sing a duet with Shinsani for the anime production. Perhaps she could even be Shinsani's girlfriend." Her fingers went up and down the columns of the different pages that she was flipping through as she struggled to find the locations of the frequent hangouts.

" They were last seen at the Heeren, which is at orchard road. But we had had futile searches for the last few days. I wonder if we will be able to find the boy there." Megumi said, with a heavy sigh.

"Whoever said we must have only a one-tracked mind? I'm sure the boy's friends are as equally worried for him and they are searching for him too. Let's target this girl. Orchard Road, you say? Great, let's hit the Heeren right now! Remember to call some of our officials over and we shall communicate through walkie-talkies." Mr. Sagara announced happily, standing up from his seat. "Who wants to tag along?"

* * *

It was starting to drizzle outdoors. The slight drizzle came down to the earth as silent small beads of water gently landing on the ground. Shiyuan's uniform was getting a little drenched as she walked in the drizzle. She silently cursed herself for forgetting to retrieve her umbrella from her locker. She last remembered Laura trying insistently to tag along with her because she was worried for her. However, being the strong-willed girl that she was, Shiyuan rejected her offer. She was not willing to let any of her friends get into danger. She was on an important mission-to find the missing Shinsani and she vowed to complete the mission all by herself.

"Ahh!!!" Shiyuan let out a tiny shrill as the drizzle turned into a heavier downpour. Holding her schoolbooks over her head, she ran as fast as she could into the entrance of the mall. "That was close…" She thought to herself. Setting down her books on the floor, she took out a tissue and knelt down beside her books to dab them dry. She sighed to herself as she was reminded of her mission. How on earth was she supposed to find Shinsani? She was all alone and the loneliness was getting to her. "_But if someone was after Shinsani, obviously he wouldn't be in the shopping mall. He wouldn't be so stupid to trap himself within an enclosed space." _She thought to herself. "_Unless…he's hiding along the streets of Orchard…" _

She picked up her books hastily in excitement as she ran out of the mall, forgetting all about the heavy downpour. "AHHHH!!!!" She screamed loudly, as her books dropped into a puddle of dirty and muddy water. Her hair was getting drenched and her uniform was so cringed and wet too. Taking a deep breath, her hands stretched forward to clasp the dirty books. Clearly, Shiyuan was upset because she was one person who took great efforts to take care of her beloved possessions. People walking by with umbrellas brisk walked and one person accidentally stepped on her books." NO!!!" Shiyuan sighed in great dismay. She grabbed her books and sprinted back into the mall for the second time. It was not surprising that she slipped and fell down because of the slippery surface of the floor and the next second she was sprawled on the floor, her books scattered in a mess beside her.

"Need a help there?" A booming voice said. Shiyuan lifted her head hopefully and fervently wished to see Shinsani's face, but to her utter disappointment, she saw someone who looked like he was barely out of his teens. Her hand slid into offering hand as she stood up." Cool hair colour!' She exclaimed in awe. Mr. Sagara smirked at the comment of flattery. Megumi helped gather up her scattered books on the floor and slid them in a transparent plastic bag. "I reckon your name is Fang Shiyuan?" She asked.

Shiyuan's eyes widened in shock. "H-how…did...yy-ou know?" Miss Megumi walked up to her and gave her a grim smile. "I'm with him. We are from the Singaporean-Japanese association fencing school. We know you because we know your friend Shinsani Homme." Shiyuan nodded, skeptical of the two strangers.

"Your point would be…?" Shiyuan asked as politely as she could. " We want to ask you about Shinsani's location. We need to find him urgently as he has committed some sort of offense." Mr. Sagara explained. Shiyuan nodded. _Yeah okay. "Two strangers coming up with some kind of cock-and-bull story. I shall have to think of an intellectual plan to throw them off.". _"I'm actually looking for him too. But the problem is, he didn't say anything to any of us friends before he left. I'm stuck here trying to find him too. Let's spilt up to find him!" Shiyuan said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "_I'll do_ _anything to escape away from these two weirdo strangers," _She thought.

Miss Megumi seemed to read Shiyuan's mind as she said reproachfully," Thinking of running away from us?" Shiyuan seemed shocked. She stuttered," Look…I don't even know why you two are after him…"

Mr. Sagara turned to look at Megumi and said," She's right. All right. He broke his fencing contract with us. He's supposed to be enrolled in the Singapore fencing school when our company gave him a scholarship but he went on to enroll himself in some stupid local school. He has been resisting confrontation from us ever since." He retrieved a photo stated copy of their contract from his pocket, which Shiyuan took and inspected.

Shiyuan's face began to heat up." Watch what you're saying…my school is not some stupid local school." She said heatedly. Mr. Sagara wore an apologetic look on his face. Megumi cut in," We've been combing this mall last Saturday but we still couldn't find him. Any idea where he might be?"

Shiyuan seemed to be in a loss of words for a while. She felt dumbstruck. Now everything was coming together just like parts of an uncompleted jigsaw puzzle being fixed together to form a complete picture. _" So…the officers were here last Saturday…he actually kissed me to silence me so that I would not grab their attention…oh no I've mistaken Shinsani for bad intentions! HMPH, stupid him. It's just typical him to keep such a big problem to himself. Now, why in the world am I feeling hurt and sad because he didn't wish to confide in me? Didn't I just make up my mind never to get infatuated with someone like him??!! What am I to do now???" _Shiyuan closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath to regain her calm posture. " All right…I will help all of you. Look me up tomorrow in the afternoon outside my school. I will look for him today and I will tell you if I find him." She stated.

The duo seemed to be contented with her answer as they walked out of the entrance of the mall and both of them were sheltered with umbrellas from their bodyguards. Their chauffer opened the door of their long BMW and they slid inside the car seats. The car door was shut and the car whisked off in a flash.

* * *

"YARRRRR!" Shinsani yelled out loud, as he did a parry attack on his sensei. His teacher easily tackled it and soon, Shinsani found himself being flung against the cool hard surface of the wooden floor. "You're improving day by day! That's good!" The fencing master chuckled to himself as he took off his fencing head shield. Shinsani shook his head as he took off his too and they bowed to each other. "I'll go take a bath first," Shinsani said, somewhat awkwardly. His fencing master nodded in understanding.

It had been one week since Shinsani had pleaded with him to stay at his house. The fencing master, Ruma-sensei, was aware of the whole situation. He had forced the truth out of poor Shinsani. Being a compassionate sensei, the fencing master had no choice but to take him in. Still, he couldn't help but realize the severity of the matter and he wished Shinsani would just confess his offense to that company and stop making everybody worry for him. "_Let me take a look at his bag. Maybe I will something that will help him."_ Ruma-sensei thought. He felt a twinge of guilt seep through him but decided that he was doing it out of concern for his disciple.

Ruma-sensei emptied his knapsack and out came all his stuff. Jeans, t-shirts, extra fencing suits, CDs and what's that…A PHOTO OF HIM AND A GIRL? Ruma-sensei snatched the photo up from the messy bundle of things to take a closer gaze at it. True enough, it was Shinsani and another one of his disciples, Shiyuan. They were dressed in their fencing suits and grinning in the photo. He turned to the behind of the photograph and saw Shiyuan's handphone number scribbled in untidy handwriting.

"Brilliant…" Ruma-sensei smiled. If he couldn't help his disciple himself directly, at least he could make the effort to count on others to help him.

Three hours had passed. Her watch buzzed again. Shiyuan sat down tiredly on one of the benches provided in the mall. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. Perhaps she should just give up and go back home and begin the search again the next day…Perhaps she should just give up totally and forget all about Shinsani…Perhaps she should call up Shinsani's parents to ask for clues…Perhaps…Perhaps…Her eyes were about to droop close due to her lethargy but a noise buzzing in her sling bag distracted her. Rubbing her eyes, she searched for her handphone in her bag and answered," Hello?"

" Is this Shiyuan-chan? I'm Ruma-sensei, your fencing master." Ruma-sensei said in his usual deep and gruffly voice.

"Ruma-sensei! What's up?" Shiyuan asked, somewhat surprised that her fencing master would be calling her up.

"Are you Shinsani's girlfriend?" Shiyuan eyes narrowed in disgust." We are fencing partners and we are a duo for singing practices. That's how simple our relationship is," She said icily.

"Okay, okay. Joke's over! Shinsani's at my house now. Apparently he has taken refugee at my house for the past one week. He has explained to me everything. Come down now and convince him to own up to the company! It's better to be an honest dude instead of a cowardly coward, don't you think so?" Ruma-sensei said.

Shiyuan's mood lightened up upon hearing about the news of Shinsani! She was so close to reaching her long-awaited mission! Picking up her pen and some spare foolscap paper, she wrote down the address of her sensei's home before squeaking thank you to him and ending the phone call. "Thomson Road…isn't that the house directly next to Thomson Plaza?" She asked herself.

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The journey taken from Orchard Road to Thomson Road was one hell of a long journey. First, she was caught in a drizzle. Then she was caught in a downpour. She fell and bruised herself. Her schoolbooks must have been filled to the brim with dirt and filth by now and they were probably in a state of being unable to be used for educational purposes. Yet, no matter how lethargic or sickly she felt, Shiyuan felt the urge to strive on. She took a bus ride (bus no.162) that went stopped directly at the bus-stop outside Thomson plaza. The bus ride was approximately about one hour and Shiyuan picked up whatever strength she had left to walk to the house that was located further inside the street Thomson Road. Her plastic bag of filthy books dragged along on the floor as Shiyuan put one foot ahead of each other wearily. She was getting even more drenched, walking in the rain again, but she did not give a care, just as long as she made it to the house.

"House number 70," Shiyuan breathed, a wave of happiness flooded her senses. She pressed the doorbell and the auto-gate instantly opened, allowing her to step in under the shade of the rooftop. Ruma-sensei came out of house and bellowed worriedly," Whatever happened to you??? You look a wreck!!!" He ran towards the half-dead Shiyuan, who managed a small smile. Ruma-sensei helped her carry her sling bag and plastic bag of books as she stumbled into his house. She hadn't had time to admire the beauty of Ruma-sensei's wonderfully designed bungalow house. "Thank you Ruma-sensei," Shiyuan said. "Ano, can you take me to see Shinsani?"

"No problem, after you get changed out of your disgustingly wet uniform, or else you'll get a cold. You're lucky I have a daughter whose about the same age as you and is of the same build as you. She'll lend you some home clothes to change into." Shiyuan sniffled and smiled with gratitude. As soon as she changed out of her wet uniform into more comfortably warm clothes, which consisted of a gothic blue baggy t-shirt and a black knee-length skirt, Ruma-sensei led her down their living room, down their dining room, down their kitchen, down the corridors and down to the opening entrance of the fencing hall. "Ruma-sensei, you have such a big house!" Shiyuan exclaimed in awe.

_"Uh-oh, this is it. I'm going in to see him again. Hmm. The anger of Last Saturday's events seems to have faded away so naturally from me. Argh. Whatever. I shall just get him to own up so that we can get up with the whole anime production thing and I'm not going to take up fencing again next year, so that I will be spared the torture of seeing him again." _Shiyuan thought.

"Erm, Shinsani? You have a guest here," Ruma-sensei cleared his throat. Shinsani's head, who was buried into his school textbook of Biology, looked up and gaped at her. Shiyuan was equally shocked to see his reaction. "I'll leave you two alone then," Ruma-sensei said. Shiyuan and Shinsani bowed to him as he took his leave.

"What are you doing here?" Shinsani said, his cheeks flushing a tint of red.

"What do you think?" Shiyuan said, sarcasm dripping with every word. The two sat down together on one of the benches. Shinsani fiddled with his fingers nervously as he kept stealing glances at Shiyuan.

"Ruma-sensei called you here?" Shinsani asked softly, his voice sounded as if it was filled with guilt. Shiyuan nodded slowly. " Why didn't you tell me of your problem?" Shiyuan's voice sounded oddly strange and Shinsani suspected that she was hurt.

_"Why? Because I didn't want to get you involved and I didn't want you to come into contact with any of those dangerous officials from the company." _That was Shinsani's inner thoughts. "Because…B-because…I..I…" Shinsani stuttered, horrified by his difficulty to confess the truth. Taking that as a hint, Shiyuan snapped," Fine you don't have to think up of a reason. If you didn't want to tell me, I'm cool with it."

"NO! It's not! You're not! What I wanted to say was I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get involved and be harmed by any of the officials that were after me!" Shinsani shouted heatedly. Shiyuan blushed furiously. _"YAY! That means he did want to regard me as a friend and he would have told me the truth!" _

"Okay…I heard you…" She began. "But…the boss of the company did come to tell me about everything." Shiyuan said, facing Shinsani. "You have to confess your deeds Shinsani! You're just being a holy coward by making everybody worried sick about you! They will find you, even if you intend to stay in Ruma-sensei's house all the while!" Shiyuan's words seemed to prick Shinsani's conscience like a thousand needles stabbing a person's skin.

"I broke the contract." Shinsani said simply. "Yes I do know that, but I don't see why you want to run away from all this mess."  
Shiyuan said worriedly. " You wouldn't want to know of the grave consequences," Shinsani said darkly. "Yeah? I wouldn't have wasted four hours of my precious time searching for you today! I wouldn't have dirtied my books if not for the fact that I was so trying to hard to find you! I wouldn't have got caught in the heavy rain if not because of you! Without you, there will be no anime production!!! GET IT?" Shiyuan screamed into his eardrums.

"WHAT? How could you be so stupid? Are you all right now? I think you're getting a cold…" Shinsani's hand went over to touch Shiyuan's forehead. Shiyuan flinched from the warm sensation. She was feeling numbly cold all over and her nose was getting all runny.

"So will you just go and confess? I'd be proud of you…" Shiyuan said in a hopeful, childlike and pure voice. "One more thing…I am to report to Mr. Sagara and Miss Megumi tomorrow after school for news of you."

"I'll meet them there after school at the school gate and be honest with them." Shinsani cut in.

Shiyuan smiled gratefully. She smiled a blissful smile. F**inally her mission was completed. **The happiest thing was hearing that Shinsani trusted her as a friend and believed in her. She made him realize his faults and now he was confessing his offense, all thanks to her. She had saved the day. Best of all, she did not realize how much she had missed Shinsani for one week. A blissful thought lighted up her cold body as her head went dizzy and the ground rushed up to meet her. She felt warmth embracing her in a second and thought she had heard someone calling out her name. Whatever. She was just too content with her happy feelings and the feeling of being in the warmth of the person's arms. She stopped thinking and her eyes drooped shut.

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**A/N: I'm so darn proud of this chapter! WHEEThis is my longest chapter ever!:) Do review!!! Thanks!!!!**


	14. The Finale:Part 1

A/N:I seriously do not know how to go about with this chapter! But as the title has said, it is the finale chapter! YAY! It will be broken up into a lot of different parts and scenes so buckle up to be ready for it! Let me give a character analysis of the Shiyuanfanfic first before writing out the finale chapter:)

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Character Analysis: D 

**Shiyuan**- She's the main character of this whole fan fiction. Actually Shiyuan is a real name and is a real person in real life. (Shiyuan, don't roll your eyes as you read this) I wrote this whole story in dedication to her for getting me so darn involved and hooked onto anime and yeah, anime fan fictions! Shiyuan in the story, is a girl whose really indulging in all her favourite activities, like being so hooked onto Rurouni Kenshin Merchandise and fencing. However, when she meets Shinsani, she comes across as this spoilt brat whose so arrogant because she's always thinking of the negativity of Shinsani (don't blame me! Shiyuan always reviewed saying no way was she going to fall for Shinsani…so I tried to make the storyline go that way:) But the ending should end like a big bang and I shall defy Shiyuan's wishes!!! WHEE!)

She doesn't know how to handle relationships, as we can see from the chapters, but she does care a lot for Shinsani. Like, for instance, when she braved the rain just to find Shinsani. She's also infamously known for her piercing scream, yeah, beautiful voice she has. Shiyuan is very strong-willed and she's really caring towards all her other friends. She doesn't backstab or have any evil intentions and she's just an innocent naïve person:)

**Shinsani**- He's the love interest of Shiyuan. I tried to portray him as a bad guy in the first chapter, when he slaps Shiyuan violently just because he could not tolerate Shiyuan's impolite attitude. Then later in the chapters, he turns nice to Shiyuan by offering to be her fencing partner and gives her extra coaching fencing lessons together. Then when the girl, Fuko, beg Shiyuan to give up her singing position for the anime production, Shinsani refuses flatly by saying that he would not sing if she wasn't singing. Shinsani is really nice to Shiyuan, he's clear of his feelings for her (but the same can't be said for Shiyuan. LOL) but he can be sarcastic at times and keeps arguing his head off with Shiyuan. He cares a lot for Shiyuan, however, the same can't be said towards other people. He is rather rude to other people, like Shiyuan's friend Misaki. But I do want to portray him as the overall nice sweetie that every girl yearns for:) Oh yeah, and he really does have natural brown hair which shines red under any form of light:)

**Cherissa**- She's the music coach whose hired to train the duo's vocal chords for their singing debut in the anime production theme song. She loves matchmaking the duo by setting them up with lovely dovey songs:) Cherissa is my friend in real life and she sings really well in choir, thus the role of the music coach belongs to her! Cherissa is an extraordinary teenager because she's a music coach as well as a student( she's still a teenager) but in the story, she's a few years ago than Shiyuan and Shinsani, probably their senior by three years.

**Ruma-sensei**: Everybody wants to match make Shiyuan and Shinsani, don't you think so? Ruma-sensei is really experienced in fencing and he cares for his students. He put Shinsani up at his house for one week when the officials were after him. Ruma-sensei then proceeds to call Shiyuan because he thought she was the right person whose able to persuade Shinsani to turn himself in. Ruma-sensei is one friendly sensei and he isn't all serious.

**Laura**- She's Shiyuan's best friend, alongside with Misaki and Izumi. I thought it was fun to add a new character in! Laura is my friend in real life too and she is one of Shiyuan's best friends in real life too. In the story, Laura comes across as this vain girl whose favourite colour is PURPLE (I just got stuck with the idea that her favourite colour should and must be purple. HAHA.) She splurges her monthly allowance on clothes, makeup and accessories and is a girl's girl. The description of her bedroom describes her personality. Laura is a fun-loving person who really wants the best for Shiyuan-to the extent of ganging up with two other best friends to set Shiyuan and Shinsani up on a date. She's a very nice girl whose very polite in the fiction and yeah, she loves nature. (don't snicker!)

**Izumi**- Izumi's English name is Teresa and Teresa also happens to be one of my friends in real life. She's a best friend of Shiyuan too and she's very strategic in the things she does. She's highly organised and thinks on the spot. Also, like Laura, she loves match making Shiyuan and Shinsani together! In the first chapter, Izumi, Shiyuan and Misaki hang out together and have real fun with each other. I didn't get a chance to elaborate further on this character because I developed on other characters like Laura and Cherissa.

**Misaki**- That's my Japanese name:) My Japanese name is Misaki Masaaki. Like Izumi, Misaki is very enthusiastic and doesn't care about other peoples' impressions of her. Even though Shinsani sounded so darn frustrated with her on the phone, she manages to keep up her happy tone. She's a little boy crazy but then again, I also hadn't had the chance to develop her further as an important person in the story.

**Fuko**- She's this unknown girl in Jefirerose High who is desperate to win the singing audition. She even begs Shiyuan to give up her singing role for her! Sheesh. She has no backbone. I think I added her into the story just to create a situation where it allowed Shinsani and Shiyuan to grow closer together:)

**Mr Cham Kam Poo**- He was really famous in the first few chapters, when Shiyuan hated Shinsani to bits and pieces and they were quarrelling over trivial matters. Mr Cham saw that as a sign of a loving couple and often teased them. He's also a teacher in real life and he's hilarious!

**Mr Chen Xiao Dong**- The name really rings a bell. Haha. I used his name as the principal's name because I thought it sounded funny.

**Mr Sanosuke Sagara**- He's a character from the anime/manga Rurouni Kenshin:) He's a fun-loving person and a HIP boss-judging from his highlighted coloured hair and laidback personality. He has a thing for Megumi, but I also didn't get to elaborate on this, because the focus is on Shiyuan and Shinsani.

**Megumi**- She's one of the directors in Mr Sagara's company and she is also a character from RK. She's very pretty and she's easily agitated, especially by the offences of Shinsani. But she's also kind-hearted, like for instance, when she slipped Shiyuan's dirty books into a plastic bag so that it will give some convenience to Shiyuan.

**YAY! That's all the characters right? Hopefully I didn't miss out anyone!:) Right…on with the chapter! Bleh. My internet connection is down because I installed Ares Lite and it reacts negatively with my internet connection. My mum woke me up with her newspaper shuffling just when I was about to fall asleep. I'll go downstairs to sleep again after I type out a paragraph:)**

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**_Special thanks to Shiyuan and Cherissa for motivating me this far and to everyone else who have reviewed and read my story:)_**

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**Chapter 14: The Finale: Part One **

**BY Misakililin **

"Hey! OY! Wake up!" Shinsani yelled deafeningly and the echoes of his voice were bouncing across the fencing hall. A tremendously worried expression was etched on his face as he gazed down at the girl who had just fainted comfortably in his arms. "What do I do now?" He asked aloud, feeling completely helpless. He shouted out loud for Ruma-sensei. The next thing he knew, Ruma-sensei came running down the corridors and his head popped out into the entrance of the fencing hall.

"You called?"

Shinsani gulped, cocking his head down to the unconscious Shiyuan. "I don't know what to do…" He stammered. He got Shiyuan off her and laid her on the bench. Ruma-sensei came over and inspected her. Touching her forehead, he shook his head as he said, " She's running a fever. Must have been the rain that has triggered the fever." Shinsani felt a large twinge of guilt pricking his conscience. Gulping down his fear, he asked stupidly," So what do we do now? Do you have any fever medicine or whatever? Where will she stay? Is she fit to go home now? Should she stay over at your house?"

Ruma-sensei rolled his eyes at his baka deshi (it's Japanese for stupid student). " My car is at the service centre." Ruma-sensei said flatly.

"Oh." Shinsani said, dumbfounded.

"I'll call up her parents and inform them of your disappearance and the whole matter and her condition. I won't get them to report to the police that they have found you, for I'm confident that you will own up tomorrow. I'm going to ask them for permission to let Shiyuan stay over at my house for the night." That was Ruma-sensei's reply.

Shinsani nodded. "But Sensei (Japanese for teacher)…if I'm taking care of her, like…I'm sleeping the guestroom and there's only one bed…" His voice trailed off.

"I'll get two mattresses down to the living room. That's where you are camping tonight." Ruma-sensei answered in sensibly, his voice almost sounding smug.

Shinsani nodded.

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He spent the rest of the night with a plastic container of ice cool water, a thermometer, drinking water, blankets, a towel, mattresses, panadols and Shiyuan. He got up every two hours to wet the towel in the bucket ice cool water, before sponging her face and leaving the towel on her forehead. Shinsani looked down worriedly at the sleeping Shiyuan. He had never looked after anyone in his life before. He was an only child and spent half of his time outdoors in fencing lessons alone, all by himself, because his parents had never had time to spend with him. He shrugged off that depressing thought as his attention turned to Shiyuan.

Shiyuan shivered and her lower lips quivered. Shinsani grabbed one more layer of blanket and spread it out on the mattress. The coldness, that her fever was causing her to feel like she was in the Antarctic, seemed to have faded away when she drifted off to sleep and her breathing became calm and quiet again. He strolled back to his own mattress and sleep claimed him. Another two more hours of sleep to go before the digital clock woke him up again to check on Shiyuan.

Shiyuan's eyes opened and felt slightly disorientated. She had awakened in the brink of midnight. Feeling two layers of blankets covering her, she could still feel the coldness that her fever was causing her. A splitting headache greeted her senses as she put her two hands to her head. She turned to her side and a towel fell off her forehead.

"What is a towel doing on my forehead? Where am I?" Shiyuan thought. She flung away the towel with force and the towel was sent flying right into the air and landed on Shinsani's face. "UGH!" Shiyuan heard that sound and felt completely startled. The digital clock beeped again at that instance. He sat up feeling irritated by the fact that a towel rudely awakened him. Groaning as he got up from his mattress, he flicked the table lamp, which was on the desk table, on.

" What are YOU doing now?" Shiyuan asked incredulously.

"I…I…We are in Ruma-sensei's house now. You fainted because you were running such a high fever so Ruma-sensei wanted to you to stay over at his house for one night. He has informed your parents already." Shinsani answered embarrassedly.

Shiyuan nodded as she felt her body fall back on the mattress tiredly. Her splitting headache was driving her nuts. "Are you okay?" Shinsani asked worriedly as he kneeled down by her side. He grabbed the thrown towel and dumped it in the bucket of cold water, squeezed it dry and put it on Shiyuan's forehead. Then he took the bottle of drinking water and tilted Shiyuan's head to drink some water so that she would not be dehydrated.

" Do I need medicine or something?" She mumbled.

Shinsani said," No. You have already taken them. It will be six hours again before you need to take more fever medicine. Go to sleep." Shiyuan nodded obediently and reached out for Shinsani's hand before clasping it with two of her hands and muttering softly," Don't leave me alone to fend off this fever all by myself." Shinsani had heard her and he was somewhat embarrassed. He was the epitome of worry and anxiety and concern for his friend. He lay down on the cool and hard surface of the marble floor and fell asleep again.

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The alarm clock rang an irritating buzzing sound. The more he ignored it, the louder it got and the more irritated he got. Groaning and complaining about loud noises, Shinsani woke up, wondering why his back was so stiff. He then realised that he had been sleeping on the marble and his hand was stills tuck within Shiyuan's hands. Glancing down his watch, which read 12pm, he got panicky_. " Oh no! I'm late! I'm supposed to meet Megumi and Mr. Sagara! I don't think she is healthy enough to go right down to meet them. I'll go in her place then." _He yanked his hand out of hers and picked up his knapsack and off he went.

Meanwhile, Megumi and Sanosuke had been waiting outside the school gates of Jefirerose High for close to one hour and they were growing increasingly irritated as every minute passed. " Did you think she stood us up?" Mr. Sagara, who was munching happily on an apple, asked. Megumi frowned at him and replied coolly," Damn. She was such a nice person. I'd hate to think she did that. Shall we leave now?" Mr. Sagara stared at her thoughtfully before nodding. It was pointless staying and waiting for someone who had not turned up.

They were about to get into their black limousine when they heard a shout. " WAIT!!!" Shinsani shouted, cycling as fast as he could on the rusty red bicycle that was deposited in the back of Ruma-sensei's garage. Shinsani tried to find any vehicle that could transport and he made do with the bicycle. Megumi and Mr. Sagara turned around and their eyes widened in disbelief. " Aren't you Shinsani?" Megumi asked.

Shinsani caught up with them, panting slightly. " Shiyuan got sick and she can't get out of bed. I'm here instead. After all, you wanted to find me, didn't you? I'm here to owe up." Mr. Sagara smirked as he disposed the core of the apple into a nearby rubbish bin. "But," Shinsani glared dagger eyes at the both of them. "Do not ever try to involve my friends in future. Ever." Mr. Sagara's smirk grew wider,"  
Yeah, sure. Protective of your girlfriend, aren't you?" Shinsani gaped as he tried to rectify Mr. Sagara's mistake, but Mr. Sagara had interrupted him and pushed him into the passenger seat of the limousine.

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"It's so typical of you guys to abduct me from my school and bring me over to discuss matters in a business-like room," Shinsani commented sarcastically to Megumi and Mr. Sagara, who ignored him.

"Well…aren't you going to sit?" Megumi asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

"As a matter of fact, I won't." Shinsani growled fiercely.

"Seems like someone here is throwing a childish tantrum right in the matter of a serious session. We underestimated him, Megumi. My, my." Mr. Sagara said aloud, scratching his chin as he leaned back into his comfy leather chair. Shinsani grudgingly forced himself onto one of the chairs and scowled deeply.

"Right. Let the session begin." Megumi flipped open her wide stack of file notes and clasped her hands together. "Shinsani, I know you do know the rules of the contract."

"No, no I don't. I just signed the contract with my eyes closed." Shinsani snapped. " Stop asking silly and obvious questions. Of course I do know the rules."

"So you are fully aware that you have broken the rules?" Megumi questioned another annoyingly obvious question. That earned her a glare from Shinsani.

"Just speak out the consequences now." Shinsani said shortly. He kept a straight face, not wanting to show his fear of punishment.

It was Mr. Sagara's turn to speak. " The termination of the fencing contract and a hefty compensation. The termination of the contract will mean that you have to pack your bags and return to Japan, which is the place that you had signed the contract."

" YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!" Shinsani shouted, outraged.

"We haven't finished, and please sit down and wipe that ferocious look off your face." Megumi said grimly. Her patience with a bad-tempered adolescent was wearing thin. " We WILL allow you to finish your school term at Jefirerose High and let you finish your singing schedule for the anime production. But you will have to leave Singapore after that. You should know your rash decision to have turned your back on the contract rules. Also, the compensation fee will be $15,000."

The severity of the whole matter was like the entire universe collapsing onto Shinsani's shoulders.

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_**A/N:Okay so maybe this whole part 1 isn't very long but i got a majorly majoy writer's block for the second part and i'm working on teh second part of the last chapter now,so yeah:) Please bear with em adn review please! You'll make my world go round and round and round:)**_


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